


Desperate to Forget

by TableForThree_Archivist



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Drama, Established Relationship, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Multi, Plot What Plot/Porn Without Plot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2005-12-26
Updated: 2005-12-26
Packaged: 2018-04-18 23:15:52
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 23,930
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4723913
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TableForThree_Archivist/pseuds/TableForThree_Archivist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When the trio return to Hogwarts for their seventh year, instead of focusing on their changing relationship, Harry and Hermione are worried about Ron, who was a Death Eater prisoner for a short time during the summer.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> Note from Jonathan Andrew Sheen, the archivist: this story was originally archived at [Table for Three](http://fanlore.org/wiki/Table_for_Three). When traffic and uploads slowed to a trickle, it became difficult to justify the hosting expenses. To preserve the archive, I began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project in January 2015. I e-mailed all authors about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this author, please contact me using the e-mail address on the [Table for Three collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/triofic/profile).

St. Mungo's had never been a welcoming sight for Harry. He dreaded the wizarding hospital even more now because with the war against Voldemort in full effect, it was never a simple cold or flu that led to a person ending up there. This time was no different.

He was sitting with Hermione in one of the waiting room areas inside the spell damage ward. He would have preferred to pace but had given that up an hour ago upon seeing how anxious it was making Hermione. They didn't talk and Harry didn't know how to comfort her either than to hold her hand every once in a while, but in a way that no one who saw them would think there was anything other than friendship between them.

Harry should have been feeling relief, but the only things he was capable of feeling were dread and guilt. Ron had been missing for almost three days and it wasn't until a few short hours ago the Order had found him. He had been a prisoner to Death Eaters the entire time. It was only yesterday his captors proposed an exchange. A hooded figure had showed up at the Dursley's house with a message - if Harry Potter wanted to see Ron Weasley alive again he was to meet them at the prearranged time and place. Though Harry was safe at Grimmauld Place, Arabella Figg who kept an eye on the Dursley home had immediately informed the Order of the hooded messenger and what had been said.

Harry knew without a doubt it was a trap but he was willing to take that risk if it meant getting Ron back. The Order wasn't so willing to take that risk and he and Hermione had not even been allowed to go to the meeting point. Tonks had used her Metamorphmagus abilities to look like Harry and had gone in his place.

They had got Ron back but there was still no word on how serious his injuries were. The Healers had him under observation in the spell damage ward because chances were if he was in Death Eater custody for that long, he had been exposed to the Cruciatus curse numerous times and who knew what else.

Only Ron's parents had been allowed in to see him as of yet, and Harry was growing rather impatient waiting for a Healer to give him a prognosis of Ron's condition. Harry was sure it was just as frustrating for the rest of the Weasley clan that were sitting with them in the waiting area. All of Ron's brothers were there, with the exception of Percy - who had yet to respond to the owl Charlie had sent him saying they had got Ron back. Ginny was there as well but had gone up to the Visitor's Tearoom with the twins.

Harry noticed Hermione sit up suddenly and he followed her line of sight. It was Tonks coming towards them with Lupin at her side. They had both left to see if they could get a Healer to talk to them about Ron's condition. Harry couldn't tell by their expressions if they were successful or not - or if the news was good or bad.

"Are Arthur and Molly still in there with him?" Said Tonks.

Bill, who had stood up with the rest of them, nodded his head. "Should I go get them?"

"No, it's okay. It's probably nothing they don't already know. We've been told the Healer in charge of Ron has already spoken to them," the Auror responded.

"What did he say?" Hermione asked. She couldn't take being kept in the dark for much longer.

"The Healers are confident he'll make a full recovery," Lupin spoke up.

Harry regarded the older man carefully. That should have been good news but Lupin's expression indicated otherwise. "But?" Harry pressed, knowing he was leaving something out.

Lupin ran a weary hand through his graying hair. "The recovery they're speaking of is in reference to his physical injuries. There's no telling what the extent of the psychological damage is."

"We have no idea what he's been through these last three days," Tonks added. "I'm not saying that Ron isn't tough but everyone has their limits. I know Aurors who have been tortured - "

"The point is," Lupin gently cut Tonks off, "is that Ron is going to need his friends and family to be there for him."

"When can we see him?" Hermione asked.

"They're not going to let anyone else in to see him tonight," Lupin informed them. "He's been given a sedative potion, which should keep him unconscious until morning. I think we should all get some rest as well and come back then."

"I'm not leaving," Harry stated resolutely. Hermione's stance beside him told him she planned to do the same.

Tonks nodded. "I have to head into work for a few hours but Remus will stay here." She and Lupin had anticipated this would be their response and had no intention of forcing them back to Grimmauld Place.

Harry settled back into the waiting room chair. He had no doubts that time would pass by excruciatingly slow until they were finally allowed to see Ron.

Like Hermione, he was exhausted from getting very little sleep since Ron's disappearance, and Harry knew that would continue until he could see for himself that his friend was all right.

* * *

It was the dull ache in her neck from sleeping in an awkward position that woke Hermione. Judging from the lack of activity in the hallway she figured it was still early.

Harry appeared in her line of vision then, holding a steaming cup of tea and giving her a tired smile. She took it from him gratefully, knowing she was going to need every bit of caffeine she could get her hands on to keep herself awake.

"Thanks," she said, returning the smile as Harry sat down beside her. Without even thinking about it, she reached out to caress his face but immediately let her hand drop when she realized what she was doing.

"It's okay," Harry said to her. "Nobody else is here right now. Bill and the twins went to work and Charlie took Ginny home."

"What about Remus?"

"Moody showed up and they left to go talk somewhere."

Hermione could make out the resentment in Harry's voice as he felt like the Order was purposely leaving him out of things yet again. "Just because there's no one around to see us doesn't mean we shouldn't be careful."

"Hermione, you just touched my face. It's not like we snogged or anything," he returned, thinking she was making a big deal out of nothing.

"But I didn't give any thought to what I was doing - I just did it. When we go back to school, things like that can't happen. People will start to talk if they see the three of us acting differently."

"School is still a few weeks away," Harry said gently. "I know it's going to be hard but we'll figure something out."

Their relationship was still fairly new. It had only began after he had come to Grimmauld Place after spending his customary first week of the summer with the Dursley's. They had only been together about a month before Ron had been taken during one of the Order's botched Death Eater raids that the three of them had been a part of.

Harry couldn't pinpoint the exact moment when everything had changed between the three of them. Even now things didn't feel all that different. Granted, it had been a bit awkward at first - especially between him and Ron - but they had worked through it and now their relationship just seemed to be a natural extension of their friendship. The three of them had worked hard to keep the romantic nature of their relationship a secret, something that would be even harder once school started up again.

"I'll admit I haven't really thought that far ahead," Hermione said to him. "I've been so preoccupied with Ron and whether or not he was even still alive I haven't considered what we're going to do at Hogwarts. It helps that it's our last year though, but we're still going to have to be very careful."

Harry was going to respond by saying at least they'd had the summer to practice keeping their relationship a secret but he saw Mr. and Mrs. Weasley walking towards them. They looked exhausted but happy.

"How is he?" Hermione asked the Weasley's before Harry could.

"He's awake now," Mr. Weasley answered, with one arm wrapped around his wife's shoulder. "We know you two have been here all night, so we thought you'd like to see him."

"The Healers are putting a time limit on visits for the moment because they want to make sure he doesn't overdo it," said Mrs. Weasley. "But if a Healer doesn't come around to kick you out, you can stay with him as long as you like. Arthur and I are going to get some breakfast and then we'll come back. Can we get you two anything?"

Harry and Hermione politely declined Mrs. Weasley's offer before heading towards Ron's room. Hermione knocked lightly on the closed door before pushing it open and walking in with Harry right behind her.

Hermione had to fight down the urge to gasp when she saw the mass of cuts and bruises lining Ron's face. She had at least some idea of what he had gone through but it was something altogether different to have it staring her in the face. She forced herself not to think of the fact that he had probably been tortured.

She knew he had some broken ribs and other assorted injuries so she decided against hugging him. She settled instead for tightly squeezing his hand - that is, until Ron not so subtly jerked his hand away from hers. She tried not to look hurt. Tonks had told her it might be like this.

"You two should stop looking like someone died," Ron said in a rough voice.

"We were so worried about you," Hermione said, standing as close to the bed as she could.

"You can stop worrying because I'm fine," Ron said. "Don't, Harry," he said, locking his gaze on Harry who remained standing at the foot of the bed. "This isn't your fault. I volunteered for that mission, same as you."

"They took you to get to me," Harry said hoarsely.

"I'm not playing the blame game with you, all right?" Ron said sharply. "It happened and now it's over. When am I getting out of here?" Ron asked them, not wanting to hear any more of Harry's self-proclaimed guilt.

"The Healers want to keep you under observation for a few days," Hermione told him.

"Why? If I had gone mad I think it would have happened already," Ron noted, his voice heavy with sarcasm.

"They just want to be sure there's no lasting effects of whatever curses have been used on you," Harry said, trying to keep his tone emotionless.

"Yeah, right. They just want an excuse to poke and prod a patient," Ron muttered.

"Do you need anything?" Hermione asked him.

"No," came Ron's instant answer. "If you two don't mind, I'm just going to sleep. I'm really tired."

"We'll come back later," Hermione said to him and Ron barely nodded his head in response.

Once she and Harry were back in the hospital corridor, Hermione couldn't help but feel disappointed. She knew she was being selfish for wanting Ron to be happy to see them, but she had at least thought things would go better than that. It seemed as though he couldn't wait to be rid of them.

"Remember, Tonks said it would be normal for him to act like this," Harry said, as if reading her thoughts.

"I know," she said in a low voice.

But knowing didn't make it any easier to accept that the person they both loved might never be the same again.


	2. Chapter Two

At first, Ron was glad to be back at Grimmauld Place. He would never call it home, even if it was where he had been living for the last two years whenever he wasn't in school. It was far too dark and creepy-like to resemble a home. Not to mention the mad portrait of Mrs. Black that served as a reminder it had once been the home of pureblood fanatics. But none of those reasons were why Ron, who had been so eager to get out of St. Mungo's, wished he was still there.  
  
At least at St. Mungo's, he only had to deal with looks of pity and sympathy when someone came to visit. Now, he had to deal with it whenever he walked into a room. Even worse, everyone suddenly seemed to stop talking when he would enter a room. This was all after only being back at Grimmauld Place a day. He was already fed up with everyone treating him like he was one of the twins experiments that was going to blow up at any second.   
  
Even Harry, who Ron had expected to treat him no differently since he hated people feeling sorry for him, was acting just like everyone else. It was made all the more apparent when they were getting ready for bed that night. Ron supposed he hadn't helped things by going into the loo to change, since he and Harry had seen each other starkers plenty of times even before they had become lovers, but he didn't expect to find Harry grabbing a blanket and pillow as if he were preparing to sleep somewhere else when he returned to their room.  
  
"What are you doing?" Ron asked him.  
  
"I figured you'd want some space so I thought I'd sleep downstairs," was the response Harry offered.  
  
"Look, I'm not kicking you out of your own room," said Ron.  
  
Harry shrugged. "It's okay, I don't mind. I've slept in worse places at the Dursley's."  
  
Ron, who had been holding back his temper all day, felt some of that control slipping away. "Would you stop walking on eggshells around me? For Christ sake, I'm not going to fall apart."  
  
"That's not what I'm doing," Harry said, tossing the pillow and blanket back onto his bed.  
  
"It's what you and everyone else in this bloody house have been doing since I got here," Ron snapped. "I would have thought you of all people would understand that the last thing I want is for people to feel sorry for me."  
  
"That's not what this is about," Harry insisted.  
  
"You're right, it's about you feeling guilty," said Ron, feeling like this was a well-discussed topic between them. "How many times do I have to tell you this isn't your fault? Those sick bastards took me because that's what they do."  
  
Nothing Ron could say would alleviate the guilt Harry was feeling. He swallowed the lump in his throat. "If I had stayed – "  
  
"They would have taken you in my place and you'd be as good as dead," Ron said flatly. "Let this go, all right? I'm getting enough of this emotional shit from Hermione, I don't need it from you too."  
  
"She's just worried about you. You know that's how she is," said Harry, sitting down on his bed, look as though he had decided to stay in their room.  
  
Ron knew all too well how much Hermione worried over every little thing. But he knew this was much more than her normal concern. "Were you two together while I was gone?" He asked Harry in an off hand voice.   
  
The answer was written all over Harry's face.  
  
"Glad you didn't miss me too much," Ron said, the jealousy ringing clear in his voice.  
  
"You know that's not it," Harry said, his own anger showing through at this point. "The Order wouldn't even let us search for you. We were forced to stay in this goddamn house while they tried to find you. We didn't even know you were still alive until they sent that note to the Dursley's."  
  
"Forget it," Ron said, only half listening to what Harry had said. "This isn't going to work anyways."  
  
Harry's eyes widened slightly behind his glasses. "What do you mean?"  
  
"We go back to school in a week. Do you really think that you, me, and Hermione are going to be together like we were during the summer?"  
  
Out of the three of them, Harry had expected if any of them were to pull away it would be him. He had been doing it since the day he had met them after all. He had never considered Ron would be the one who would want to end things. "I know we haven't really talked about where all this is going - "  
  
"Because we knew this couldn't last," Ron finished for him. "It's not as if we can actually tell anyone about us. And if anyone were to find it would create a lot of problems for all of us. But hey, if you and Hermione want to keep shagging go right ahead. The Prophet already thinks you two are secretly engaged or whatever."  
  
Before Harry could respond this time, Ron yanked back the covers and got into bed. He was facing the direction of the wall so he wouldn't have to look at Harry, who was still watching him.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
* * *  
  
"Is Ron up as well, dear?" Mrs. Weasley asked Harry when he came into the kitchen for breakfast the next morning.  
  
Harry nodded as Mrs. Weasley shoved a plate scrambled eggs in front of him. "He's just in the shower."  
  
"I'll fix him up plate then," she said and went back to the stove to fry some more eggs.  
  
It was Saturday, so Mr. Weasley, along with Hermione and Ginny were sitting at the table eating breakfast. Hermione gave him this look, as if she were hoping Ron had been more talkative with him now that they were sharing a room again. But it wasn't as if anything Harry had to tell her could be said in front of Ron's parents and Ginny.  
  
Mrs. Weasley looked over her husband's should at the editorial in the Daily Prophet he was reading. "Throw that away before Ron gets down here," she said to her husband.  
  
"I know you want to protect him, Molly, but he's going to find out what people are saying sooner or later," said Mr. Weasley. Nevertheless, he folded up the morning edition of the paper and banished it with his wand.  
  
"What's it say this time?" Hermione asked him. The Daily Prophet was currently having a field day exploiting Ron's capture. With all the recent Death Eater activity they had even created a new section devoted entirely to all Voldemort related events. The wizarding paper had somehow gotten wind of Ron's capture – probably from a Healer who had leaked the news – and had splashed his name all over the 'Dark Activity' section for days now.   
  
"What those reporters are saying is nothing but rubbish," Mrs. Weasley answered for her husband. "They have no respect whatsoever for a person's privacy. All they care about is how interesting they can make the story so they can sell as many papers as possible. It's absolutely disgusting," she said, clearly aghast at the wizarding paper's interpretation of what Ron must have gone through.  
  
Hermione herself hadn't read any of what the Daily Prophet had to say about Ron. She didn't need to. Her mind could conjure up all the imagery she needed. That alone, was enough to keep her awake at night.  
  
"I still say it's too soon for him to going back to school," Mrs. Weasley said a moment later. "He's just been released from St. Mungo's. He should have the chance to recover some more before he goes away."  
  
"But mum, he wants to go back," Ginny said gently.  
  
"That doesn't mean he's ready," Mrs. Weasley said sharply.  
  
"Molly, we've been over this," said Mr. Weasley in a patient voice. "The best thing we can do for Ron right now is to let him lead as normal life as possible. He doesn't need us constantly reminding him of what he's been through, which is exactly what you'll be doing if you make him stay here instead of allowing him to return to Hogwarts."  
  
Harry, Hermione, and Ginny exchanged looks, as if they thought they should leave since it seemed like yet another argument was brewing between Mr. and Mrs. Weasley over how to best handle Ron's situation. But that moment quickly passed, when quite uncharacteristically, Mrs. Weasley spun around and went back to the food she had cooking on the stove.  
  
Mr. Weasley sighed before draining the last of his coffee and going over to his wife. "Ron may have gone through a terrible ordeal but he's eighteen. That means he's old enough to make his own decisions and we should respect the choice he's made to return to school. If anything, we should be proud of how strong he is. Most people wouldn't have been able to bounce back the way Ron has. We should count ourselves lucky that we won't be visiting him for the rest of his life at St. Mungo's. Besides, Alastor will be there. He'll let us know if anything happens."  
  
"Moody?" Harry said in surprise. He hadn't meant listen in on their conversation but his curiousity got the better of him when he heard the grizzled Auror's name.  
  
Mr. Weasley looked apologetically at his wife, before turning to the three teens seated at the table. "Yes, Alastor will be at Hogwarts. Dumbledore has hired him to fill the vacant Defense Against the Dark Arts position."  
  
"How come no one told us?" Ginny said.  
  
"We planned to tell you before you went back," was all the answer Mrs. Weasley gave them.  
  
Harry had a feeling it was him they had wanted to keep it from, so he wouldn't feel like there were members of the Order keeping an eye on him. "Who wants seconds?" Mrs. Weasley asked, putting another stack of toast on the table.  
  
It wasn't difficult to see she was trying to change the subject, as Hogwarts was currently a sensitive subject since she didn't think Ron should go back – at least not right away.  
  
So Harry tucked into the plate of sausages Mrs. Weasley placed in front of him and they didn't talk about Hogwarts or professors after that.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
* * *  
  
When Ron didn't come down for breakfast, Hermione went upstairs and knocked on the door to the boys' room. She knew she was overreacting, and the look Harry had given her before she left the kitchen told her he thought the same thing. Actually, she was sure he thought she was smothering Ron. She didn't mean to but she couldn't help it.  
  
When they had finished breakfast and Ron still hadn't shown up – he, who had never missed a meal in his entire life – she had wanted to see what was taking him so long. There was no possible way he would still be in the shower. He never took that long. In fact, it was Ron who normally complained about how long she took in the loo. It was those squabbles and random bickering that she missed the most. Most days she was lucky to get a whole sentence out of him let alone a sarcastic retort.  
  
She could hear Ron's voice muffled by the door and there was a scowl plastered on his face when he opened it.  
  
Ron was standing there clad only in a towel, that hung low on his hips and she found herself having to resist the urge to touch him. It was still something she was adjusting to. He seemed to be going out of his way to avoid any sort of physical contact with her and Harry. Before he would have gladly pulled her into the room and they would have shagged until they got worried someone would come looking for them. But there was no desire or lust burning in his cobalt eyes this time.  
  
"Sorry, I thought you were Harry," he apologized as he took in the sight of her standing there.  
  
"Why would Harry be knocking on the door to his own room?"   
  
Ron shrugged. After last night when Harry had been prepared to sleep downstairs, Ron wouldn't put it past him to knock instead of walking right in.  
  
"Do you need something?" He asked her.  
  
Hermione tried to ignore the coldness in his tone. "Your mum wanted me to see if you'd bacon and eggs for breakfast." It was a lie, but the alternative was to tell him she was a paranoid worrier who had come to check up on him.  
  
"That's fine," he said, turning around and walking back into the room. "Just tell her I'm getting dressed and then I'll be down.  
  
Hermione planned to leave then and would have, had she not noticed the bruises and assortment of welts on his back.   
  
She stifled a gasp. "Ron, why didn't you get those healed?"  
  
"They'll heal on their own. It's not a big deal," he said to her. He grabbed the first clean shirt that he could find and threw it over his head to stop her staring at them.  
  
If there had been any lingering doubt in her mind that he had been tortured, it was erased then. She felt sick and angry thinking about how he had got those marks – what he had endured rather than tell his captors what they wanted to know.  
  
"I could make a healing potion for you," she said, knowing she had to tread carefully here.  
  
"I told you it's fine," he said, sounding like he was losing his patience. "Why are you acting like you've never seen a couple of bruises before?"  
  
"Because that's not what those are," she said stubbornly.  
  
Now he really wished he had kicked her out when he'd had the chance. "Hermione, leave this alone."  
  
Predictably, Hermione didn't listen. "Ron, if you want to talk – "  
  
"No, I don't want to talk about this or anything else," he bit off angrily. Hermione stood her ground. This was the most she had gotten him to say since seeing him that first day at the hospital. "Nobody expects you to put up a front for their benefit. You can talk to me about anything. You know that, right?"  
  
"I told you I don't need to talk about anything," he said, his jaw set. He stalked purposely towards her. "For once can't you just mind your own damn business?"  
  
She found herself intimidated by Ron at that moment. As frightening as that was to admit, even if it was just to herself, it was nothing compared to the hard look in Ron's eyes as he stared at her as if she were nothing more than a stranger to him.  
  
Hermione wasn't even aware that she had backed out of the room and into the hallway until Ron slammed the door in her face.


	3. Chapter Three

One night later that same week Ron found Hermione sitting alone in the study. She was curled up on one of the armchairs with a book on her lap. She didn't look up as he entered the room.  
  
"Dad wanted me to tell you we're leaving early tomorrow," he said to her.  
  
They were going to Diagon Alley to get their school things a few days early this year. It was Moody's idea. He thought it was safer if they avoided the large crowds. His mother, who rarely ever agreed with the Auror, had supported his suggestion the instant she heard the word safe.  
  
"I already knew that," she responded, keeping her eyes focused on the page.  
  
Ron rubbed the back of his neck, knowing this uncomfortable silence between them was his fault. "I'm sorry about the other day," he apologized.  
  
"Don't be," she said, finally meeting his gaze. "I shouldn't have kept pushing you like that."  
  
Of course the one time where he actually thought he owed her an apology she thought he had nothing to be sorry for.  
  
"It's not that I don't want to talk to you," he continued, feeling like he at least owed her an explanation. "I just need to deal with what happened in my own way."  
  
"Just because Harry enjoys keeping everything bottled up inside doesn't mean you have to be the same way," she said, marking her spot in her book before closing it.  
  
"When have you ever known me to not say what's on my mind?" He said, making an attempt at a joke. "You're the one who's always telling me I should think before I speak."  
  
"In this case, I wish you wouldn't hold back," she said, her forehead creased in concern.  
  
Ron ran his hands through his hair. "I just want to forget it ever happened, okay?"  
  
If that was Ron's idea of dealing with his capture then that wasn't dealing with it at all. But she had already seen firsthand what pushing him would do and look how well that had turned out.  
  
"So you and Harry have gotten pretty close," he said, picking absently at one of the cushions on the sofa.  
  
Hermione wasn't sure what to make of that statement. "We've grown closer, yes, but my feelings for Harry are no different than what I feel for you."  
  
"I already talked to Harry about you two continuing to be together when we go back to school," he said suddenly.  
  
"You mean the three of us?" She corrected, not liking where this conversation was going at all. How come Harry hadn't said anything about this to her? "Ron?" She pressed when he didn't answer. "Are you having second thoughts about us?"  
  
He had to laugh. "How can there be an 'us' when we haven't talked about anything to do with us. All we've done is shag and fool around. That doesn't automatically equal a relationship. Besides, from what Harry's told me, the two of you were just fine when I wasn't around. "  
  
"Don't do this," she said, her tone full of anger and hurt. "You already know I'm not choosing either one of you because I want to be with both you and Harry. I expected to have to deal with this martyr self-sacrifice rubbish from Harry, not from you."  
  
"Maybe I'm the only one who's thinking rationally here," he shot back. "You're going to be so busy with homework and studying for N.E.W.T.s the last thing you'll want is me and Harry interfering with your schoolwork."  
  
"If you think I would put school ahead of my relationship with you and Harry  both friendship and otherwise  then you're right, this isn't going to work so maybe we should just call it quits now," she finished angrily and stormed out of the room.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
* * *  
  
"I think you'll need this one," said Lupin, handing Harry Know Your Enemy  An Advanced Guide to Defense Against the Dark Arts.  
  
"Did Moody choose this book?" Harry asked him. It sounded like something the paranoid Auror would choose as their seventh year textbook.  
  
Lupin smiled. "It has been on the book list in years past. I suspect this is a much more updated version though."  
  
"Great, then it'll have loads of references to me in there," Harry remarked wryly.  
  
They were in the Defense Against the Dark Arts section in Flourish and Blotts and it was the first time in six years Harry was able to move through the aisles freely without people bumping into him. With the new school year not set to start for another three days, the book shop was the least busiest he had ever seen it. It was also probably due in part to the seriousness of the war. Almost one third of the normal amount of students had been missing from Hogwarts last year because their parents had elected to keep them at home where they thought it was safer. Rather darkly, Harry thought if Hogwarts wasn't safe enough, there were probably very few places left that were.  
  
Harry had a question that had been burning in his head since yesterday and he figured Lupin would be the one person he could get a straight answer out of. "Is Moody teaching this year just to keep an eye on me?"  
  
"Dumbledore feels that it can't hurt to have an extra Auror as well as a member of the Order at Hogwarts. Yes, Alastor has been given instructions to watch out for you but he won't be shadowing you. He's there to protect the whole school."  
  
Harry still felt a bit like he would be having his own personal bodyguard and he didn't like that one bit. He was seventeen and would be graduating in a year  if Voldemort didn't kill him first. He didn't need Moody watching his every move.  
  
"Are you done yet?" Hermione asked, joining them in the narrow aisle. She had both hands holding her basket, which was filled with twice as many books as Harry's.  
  
Harry was surprised by her question. He and Ron were the ones always having to drag her out of there. Harry didn't think Hermione had ever left Flourish and Blotts voluntarily before.  
  
"I just have a few more," he told her.  
  
"I'll be in the numerology section," she informed him and disappeared down the next aisle.  
  
"Did you two have a row?" Lupin asked him. He didn't want to pry into Harry's business but that had been a rather awkward exchange between the two.  
  
"No," Harry responded, finally tearing his gaze away from where Hermione had been standing a moment before. But if the uncomfortable silence at breakfast had been any indication he was sure he knew who she'd had a row with.  
  
"How's Ron?" Lupin asked him, as if he too, had figured out the reason for Hermione's odd behaviour.  
  
Harry shrugged as they made their way to the standard spell book section. It was the best answer Harry could offer, considering his exchanges with Ron were typically short and to the point.  
  
"I take it he hasn't talked to you or Hermione about what happened?"  
  
"No, and I don't think he wants to," Harry replied.  
  
"It's probably partially because he doesn't want to burden either of you with what he's been through. It's also just as likely he's not ready to deal with the reality of it yet."  
  
"I feel completely useless," Harry admitted to him. "Ron's been there for me more times than I can count and I can't think of a single thing to help him."  
  
"Just the simple act of being there for Ron is probably helping more than you realize," Lupin said, clasping his shoulder.  
  
It was the first time Harry doubted his former professor. He didn't think he was helping Ron one bit but he didn't argue the point.  
  
Lupin left him then to go check on Mrs. Weasley and Ginny's progress, leaving Harry to find the remainder of his books on his own. When he was finished shopping he went to find Hermione.  
  
It was a bit disconcerting knowing Tonks was somewhere in the bookshop in disguise keeping an eye on him, but he shrugged off the feeling as he found Hermione where she said she would be.  
  
"We don't have to leave right away," Harry said, when she put away the book she had been reading.  
  
"It's fine," she said. "I have this one in an older volume anyways."  
  
Now Harry was wondering if the tension he'd sensed at breakfast hadn't been between her or Ron at all. "Did I do something?" He said, feeling like she was being purposely distant with him.  
  
She fixed him with an accusatory glare. "You should have told me that Ron was having misgivings about us. How could you keep it to yourself that he wants to end things?" Her voice was a harsh whisper to hopefully keep anyone from overhearing their conversation.  
  
It was him she was angry with after all. "I didn't say anything because I wasn't sure that was really what he wanted."  
  
"Of course, it would have been absolutely stupid to take at face value what he had said," she snapped. Her features softened immediately. "I'm sorry. I'm not really angry with you. It just feels like everything is falling apart." She couldn't really fault Ron saying the things he had. They didn't know if this was going to work. Everything was still so new and trying to figure out their relationship and feelings while being surrounded by hundreds of other students was going to be difficult if not impossible.  
  
"We've faced worse," Harry said, threading his fingers through. "It's not as if the odds haven't been stacked against us since the beginning."  
  
It was exactly this sort of irresponsible behaviour that had Hermione doubting her sanity for thinking they could be discreet about their relationship. Harry wasn't an overly affectionate person by any means, but there was something that felt rather intimate by how close he was standing to her and the feel of his thumb running lightly over her hand.  
  
But she pulled her hand free when Ron appeared at the end of the row, flanked on either side by towering bookshelves. She had nothing to feel guilty about but the look on Ron's face indicated he had expected to find them together like this.  
  
"Mum, wants to know if you two are ready to go," Ron said to them.  
  
"We just have to pay for our things," Hermione responded.  
  
Ron nodded and then disappeared around the corner, leaving Hermione to wonder with her limited experience with boys, what had possessed her to think she could juggle two boyfriends? Especially, when her and Ron's relationship had been complicated enough to begin with.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
* * *  
  
When they returned to Grimmauld Place, the boys went upstairs to put their books away while Mrs. Weasley made lunch.  
  
"I'll pay you back as soon as Bill gives me the money," Ron said, shoving his books into his open trunk.  
  
The line at Gringotts had been backed up almost to the entrance, and his mother had not wanted to stand around there all afternoon waiting to be taken to their vaults. She had enough money to pay for Ginny's books and reluctantly Ron had allowed Harry to pay for his. Next time Bill went to work at Gringotts he would make a withdrawal from the Weasley family vault.  
  
"Don't worry about it," Harry said, putting his own books into his school trunk.  
  
"I don't need your charity, Harry."  
  
Money had always been a very sensitive subject between them. Harry had more than he knew what to do with, while Ron barely had any to call his own.  
  
"It's not a hand out. You're my best friend. I don't want you to pay me back."  
  
"That's too bad because that's what I plan on doing," Ron said stubbornly.  
  
Harry closed his trunk, letting the subject drop. If he didn't he was sure they would get into a fight over it. He didn't know why Ron had to be so damn proud all the time. It was no small wonder why he and Hermione were always butting heads. They were both too stubborn and proud for their own good.  
  
"McGonagall wrote in my Hogwarts letter that she wants me to start Quidditch try outs early this year," Harry said, switching to a topic they would both be comfortable with. "She's a bit obsessed with Gryffindor winning the Quidditch Cup for a third year in row, since it hasn't been done since Charlie was on the team."  
  
"As long as we can get some decent Beaters we should be all right," said Ron.  
  
Harry chuckled. Since Fred and George had left Hogwarts, finding two players who could be half as good as the twins seemed as impossible as Harry getting a high mark in Potions.  
  
Ron stuffed his hands in his pockets and looked at Harry. "Look, I know I've been acting like a right git," he started.  
  
"It's nothing I'm not used to," Harry said with a grin.  
  
Ron couldn't resist grinning as well. This was his first time since coming home where he'd actually felt comfortable around Harry. He supposed he shouldn't let it go to waste.  
  
He pressed his mouth to Harry's and tried not to think about anything. He only wanted to focus on the feel of Harry's body against his.  
  
It took Harry several moments to come out of his surprised state enough to respond to Ron's lips fervently moving over his. Ron had been so careful to keep a certain amount of distance between them at all times, that the last thing Harry had expected was for him to be prying his lips apart so Ron could thrust his tongue inside his mouth.  
  
"Ron," Harry groaned out his name before unexpectedly pulling his lips away.  
  
Now it was Ron's turn to look surprised. "What's the matter?"  
  
Harry waited for his breathing to steady before answering. "I thought you said this wasn't going to work," he said sounding slightly out of breath.  
  
Ron didn't want to talk about any of that right now. He hadn't exactly been in the right frame of mind when he had said those things, and even now he wasn't sure he was thinking clearly. "Yeah, well, I told you I've been acting like a git," Ron said, brushing his hand over Harry's crotch.  
  
Harry could feel himself hardening under Ron's strokes. Despite his earlier doubts, he wasn't about to protest when Ron gripped his erection through his trousers.  
  
"The door," Harry rasped. It was still wide open and anyone could walk by and see them.  
  
"Maybe you should have thought about that earlier," said a feminine voice that was instantly recognizable to the boys.  
  
Harry had opened his mouth to ask her to join them when she turned on her heel and walked off.  
  
"Bloody hell," Ron muttered, wringing his hands through his hair.  
  
Harry echoed the sentiment. For Hermione to march off angry after seeing them together like that was not something he had counted on. What the hell was that all about?


	4. Chapter Four

Like most other years, they were rushing to get to the train station on time to catch the Hogwarts Express. At one point, Ron thought his mother actually looked disappointed that they made it to Platform Nine and Three Quarters with a few minutes to spare. His father had to gently pry her off him otherwise he really would have missed the train. Reluctantly, his mother had given him one last embrace before saying a teary eyed good-bye to him and Ginny.  
  
Quite a few members of the Order were there as well, including Tonks, Lupin, Bill, Kingsley, and Moody, who had already boarded the train. The Auror caught many stares, especially from the younger students as his magical eye constantly swiveled every which way. No doubt many were wondering if this was the real Alastor Moody this time.  
  
"I'm surprised he isn't wearing his invisibility cloak," Ron said to Harry.  
  
"He probably has it under his cloak," Harry remarked.  
  
Moody wasn't the only one who was getting stares. At first, Ron thought it was Harry they were all staring at, which would not have been unusual at all. But as they continued to pass by students as they looked for an empty compartment, Ron realized it was him they were looking at.  
  
"Let's just take this one," Harry said, wanting to get away from all the watchful eyes. He had put up with it since first year but Ron wasn't used to people staring at him.  
  
"You guys can grab this one," said Hermione, remaining outside the compartment.  
  
"Where are you going?" Ron asked her.  
  
"I'm have to start the Prefect meeting shortly," she reminded him. "I'll see you two later," she finished and walked off down the corridor packed with students looking for carriages of their own.  
  
Ron couldn't believe he had actually forgotten she was Head Girl. It was something she had talked excessively about once she had been made a prefect. Ron doubted that anyone else had even finished a close second choice as Head Girl.  
  
"I know this is nothing new," Ron said as he and Harry took opposite seats facing each other, "but what did I do this time to make her pissed at me?"  
  
"It's not just you," Harry said, adjusting his glasses on his nose. "She's not really talking to me either."  
  
Since she had walked in on the two of them the other day, Hermione had been doing her best to avoid them. Ron didn't know what to make of her behaviour. It wasn't as if she hadn't seen them together before. Granted, they had never really been together without her but she had no reason to be jealous, if that was the case. He would never want to be with just Harry, and knew it was the same way for Harry. He had wanted Hermione since he was fourteen but had been too much of a coward to do anything about it. Now that he finally had her  or rather was sharing her with Harry  he wasn't about to give that up.  
  
They heard the door slide open to their compartment, and for the briefest of seconds Ron thought Hermione had come back for some reason. But the person standing there was most certainly not Hermione.  
  
"So how was your first experience as a Death Eater prisoner?" Malfoy drawled. Crabbe and Goyle stood menacingly behind him  or at least they tried to. The two of them looked too stupid for Harry or Ron to be intimated by them.  
  
"Get out, Malfoy," Harry said, who was on his feet, along with Ron.  
  
"Did those Death Eaters render you a mute?" Malfoy said, ignoring Harry.  
  
"How about I show you what they did to me?" Ron said darkly and pulled out his wand.  
  
Fear flashed in Malfoy's eyes and he lost some of his swagger when he realized Ron was being serious. He pulled out his own wand, and as he did that Harry did the same. Crabbe and Goyle, who were unsure of what to do, decided to follow Malfoy's lead and trained their own wands on Harry and Ron.  
  
"That's enough!" A gruff voice barked.  
  
Seemingly out of thin air, Alastor Moody appeared. His magical eye glanced at each of the boys in turn. He limped towards them, separating Malfoy and his goons from Harry and Ron.  
  
"You're supposed to be in your cart. Not wandering the train and starting fights," Moody said to Malfoy.  
  
"Weasley pulled his wand first," said Malfoy, retaining some of his arrogance. "I was defending myself."  
  
"Lie to me again and I'll make sure every moment you spend in my class this year will be the equivalent of a living hell," Moody threatened, bringing his scarred face close to the Slytherin's.  
  
Malfoy backed away from the Auror and into Crabbe and Goyle. Muttering a string of obscenities, he fixed Ron and Harry with one last loathing look before leaving.  
  
"I suggest you two put your wands away as well," Moody said, turning his attention to the two teens still standing there.  
  
Ron stuffed his wand back in his pocket, doing it much more reluctantly than Harry. His emotions tended to get the best of him during his encounters with Malfoy, but if Moody hadn't showed up when he had, Ron was sure he would have used his wand on the Slytherin bastard. It wouldn't have been some half-arsed curse either.  
  
"Stay out of trouble," Moody grumbled and walked back out into the hall.  
  
If it had been any other professor, they would probably be facing a loss of house points or detention. But Moody was an Auror by nature, and that conditioning made him hand out other punishments he deemed worthy when the rules were broken.  
  
"You okay?" Harry asked him.  
  
"I'm fine," Ron said sharply and sank down onto one of the seats. With a scowl on his face, he pulled out one of his Quidditch magazines from his bag so he wouldn't have to talk to Harry. He didn't need him knowing how shaken up the encounter with Malfoy had left him.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
* * *  
  
After about an hour, Ron left their carriage to see if Hermione's prefect meeting was over. The Head Boy and Girl each got their own private compartment, which was near the prefect ones. Since Ron had been a prefect the last two years, he knew exactly where to look.  
  
Since he couldn't see inside the, he knocked on the door. Hermione opened the sliding door, with a stack of parchments clutched tightly in one of her hands.  
  
"I take it your meeting is over," he said, poking his head inside and seeing she was alone in there.  
  
"Ernie and I prepared meeting agendas ahead of time so we wouldn't forget anything."  
  
Ron wasn't the least bit surprised by that news. He figured she'd been preparing for this meeting since she got the letter saying she would be Head Girl.  
  
"So are you staying in here or are you coming to sit with me and Harry?" He asked as she put her pieces of parchment carefully inside her bag.  
  
"I've got some reading I should do," she responded.  
  
Ron slid the door shut to the compartment. If they were going to have it out he wanted to do it without an audience. "What did I do?" He asked her point blank.  
  
"I don't know what you're talking about," she said coolly.  
  
"Come off it, Hermione. You've been acting like this since you walked in on Harry and me. It didn't seem to bother you before, but if you're so disgusted by the two of us, just say so."  
  
"That's not what this is about," she said to him. "Do you really think if I was bothered by you and Harry being intimate I would have let you do those things to each other when the three of us were together?"  
  
"So then what's got you so upset that you're giving us the silent treatment?"  
  
"I'm not upset," she stated. "I just  I wish you could have gone to me the same way you went to Harry."  
  
Ron was completely confused now. "What are you on about?"  
  
"You obviously felt like you could go to Harry. I guess he's easier to talk to than I am."  
  
"I still have no bloody idea what you're on about, but I haven't talked to Harry about anything."  
  
Hermione looked stunned. "I thought when I saw you two like that  "  
  
"That what? That I had a good cry and told Harry what those sick fucks did to me?" He raked a hand through his hair and shook his head. "See, this is exactly why I can't talk to you."  
  
"Ron, of course you can talk to me," she said, feeling selfish because she thought he had confided in Harry. It shouldn't matter who he talked to. What mattered was that he didn't keep it all bottled inside.  
  
"No, I can't," he said, his voice shaking ever so slightly. "Because I don't want you to know what I went through. Don't take this the wrong way, Hermione, but I can't. This isn't something I'm ready to talk about with you or Harry or anyone. I have to work through this on my own."  
  
If he was okay with Harry touching him, she figured it would be all right for her to do the same. She caressed his cheek with the back of her hand, and unlike any of her previous attempts to touch him, he didn't pull away. "You and Harry are my best friends. I would do anything for either of you and I know you would do the same. Let me help."  
  
"I can think of one way you can help me," said Ron, moving forward so that his lips were just brushing over hers.  
  
This wasn't what Hermione had in mind but after being apart from Ron for so long, she wasn't about to complain.  
  
She allowed Ron to deepen the kiss before tangling her fingers through his hair, encouraging the movement of his lips down her throat and neck.  
  
The first feel of Ron's hands sliding up underneath her shirt, reminded her just how much she had missed him. How much she had missed this.  
  
"Thank Merlin you're not asking me a bunch of questions like Harry did," he said, as his hands reached her bra.  
  
"What did he ask you?" She said, marveling at the steadiness of her voice when Ron's hands were massaging her breasts.  
  
"He was worried I was doing something I didn't want."  
  
"Well, you did say you didn't think it was going to work between the three of us. Have you changed your mind?"  
  
Ron removed his hands from inside her shirt, realizing what a mistake it had been to bring up his conversation with Harry. "I think the fact that I want the both of you is all that matters."  
  
"You're avoiding the question," she said, frowning.  
  
"I think this answers it," he said and brought his lips crashing down on hers. As he had expected, she resisted a bit at first but once he lowered his hands to cup her arse through her jeans she let out a low whimper.  
  
"And here I was worried about walking in on the two of you fighting," said a very amused Harry, who used his wand to lock the door.  
  
"Looking to join us?" Hermione said, feeling a bit mischievous.  
  
Harry shrugged. "It looked like you were doing fine without me," he said, pretending to sound hurt.  
  
"As a matter of fact we were," said Ron, though he was joking.  
  
"Then I guess I'll just leave - "  
  
"You're not going anywhere, Harry," Hermione said in her most commanding voice. Then for good measure - even though it was clear Harry wasn't going anywhere - she pulled him towards her and snogged him much the same way she had Ron only moments before.  
  
"Now, I feel left out," Ron said when they pulled apart.  
  
"I think I know how to fix that," Harry said with a wicked grin. He grabbed a fistful of Ron's hair before and flattened his mouth against Ron's.  
  
While Harry was doing that, Hermione stroked their hardening cocks through their trousers, causing them to groan into each other's mouth.  
  
"That would feel even better if we took these ruddy clothes off," Ron said, sounding out of breath from his intense snog session with Harry.  
  
"I didn't want to interrupt the two of you," she said coyly.  
  
"Like that's ever stopped you before," said Harry, who wasted no time in removing her top.  
  
"Wait, what if someone comes looking for me?" Hermione said, managing to maintain some sense of rationality, even with Harry hurrying to unclasp her bra.  
  
"They'll just going to have to wait until we get school," said Ron, who tossed his own shirt onto the floor.  
  
"But I'm Head Girl  "  
  
"And the school year hasn't even officially started yet, so stop worrying," said Ron, who cut off her protests with a kiss.  
  
With Ron's mouth on her lips and Harry's on the back of her shoulders and neck, she felt the last of her sensible side slipping away. The opportunity to be alone with the two of them was too good to pass up, especially when her last time with Ron had been before he had been taken. Maybe this would be the first step towards them realizing they could make this work, even with school, the looming threat of Voldemort, and everything else that was going on in their lives.  
  
But she could mull over the workings of their relationship later. Right now she had more important things to take care of, starting with the fact that Harry and Ron had far too many clothes on while she was standing there half naked. That tended to be how things worked between them though. Somehow, the boys almost always managed to get her clothes off first and then she made sure they were starkers as well.  
  
While they continued to make quick work of each other's clothes, Ron waited until he had her knickers off before pulling her down with him onto one of the seats. She landed on his lap and could already feel his cock brushing against her entrance.  
  
Soon Harry was pressed up against her backside and she could feel his own rock hard cock digging into her. When she felt him move so his cock was nestled between her buttocks, she knew what he wanted.  
  
"Don't forget the charm, Harry," she said, though it came out more like a moan because Ron 's hand was fingering pussy.  
  
She had only done it this way with them a few times, and it had hurt like hell until she found a lubrication charm that made the whole experience much more enjoyable for her.  
  
Ron could hear Harry scrambling to find his wand amid the mess of clothing on the floor. He wanted to ask what they had done together while he had been gone but that would only ruin the mood. The last thing he wanted to think about were Death Eaters when he had a naked Hermione sitting on his lap as he worked his index finger in and out of her dripping cunt.  
  
It wasn't long before that wasn't enough for Ron anymore, and he wanted it to be his cock that was doing the fucking instead of his finger. So he grabbed a hold of her waist and brought her full force down onto his cock. He could see she was doing everything in her power to keep from crying out, as if she were afraid the silencing charms weren't going to hold.  
  
After he cast the lubrication charm, Harry joined Ron's hands that were tightly gripping Hermione's waist and pushed his cock into her opening. Now with both boys inside her it was impossible for Hermione to not let out a moan of pleasure as they both thrust in and out of her.  
  
Harry's hands found their way to Hermione's breasts and began squeezing the mounds of flesh that bounced up and down as she did on Ron's lap. He lightly squeezed her nipple and she pressed her back into his chest while whimpering loudly. She threaded her fingers through his hair as she continued to ride Ron  
  
Ron didn't last nearly as long as he wanted to. His cock exploded inside Hermione as she was still furiously riding his lap. Though he had gone soft inside her, he used his fingers on her clit to help her get closer to orgasm while Harry continued to stroke into her from behind.  
  
Once Hermione had thrown her head back and her eyes had fluttered shut, Ron knew she had reached her peak. Harry wasn't far behind her as he rode out his own orgasm while continuing to pound into her. When he was spent, Harry pulled out and collapsed onto cushioned train seat beside Ron. He took of his glasses and rubbed his eyes.  
  
"Did we wear you out, Harry?" Hermione teased, who was still on Ron's lap.  
  
"A little," he admitted with a grin.  
  
"That's good because I don't have time for anything more right now," she said and moved off of Ron.  
  
"Hang on, where are you going?" Ron said to her.  
  
"I can't very well stay in this carriage shagging you two all afternoon," she said, finding her own wand in her jean pocket on the floor. She then proceeded to do a cleaning charm on herself.  
  
"Why not?"  
  
Hermione sighed. She had expected this kind of reaction from Ron, not from Harry as well. She wasn't going to make it through the school year at this rate. She was going to have to set some ground rules at some point. "I have to patrol the train," she informed them. "It's one of the Head Girl duties."  
  
"Let Macmillan do it," said Ron and attempted to pull her back down on top of him.  
  
Hermione, however, just managed to move out of his reach in time. If she let him do that she wouldn't be leaving their compartment for at least another hour.  
  
"You can't expect me to start skiving off my responsibilities just so you can get shagged," she said, trying to keep her voice stern so Harry and Ron wouldn't see just how much she wanted to stay there with them.  
  
"We don't have to shag," said Harry, and that didn't help her resolve at all.  
  
"I hope you two don't think every day is going to be like this," she said as she hurried to get dressed. "If we're going to be discreet about this we can't be sneaking off every free moment we get. We can't act any differently then we did before. That means you both need to get dressed and back to your own compartment. I'll come see you when I'm done my rounds."  
  
At least she could tell they had been listening to what she had said because as she cracked open the compartment door just enough to get through, she could hear the rustle of clothing as they started to get dressed.


	5. Chapter Five

Hermione always found a measure of comfort in returning to Hogwarts. In many ways it was a safety net that kept them shielded from what was really going on in the wizarding world. She still read the Daily Prophet every morning to find out if there were any new developments in the war but it wasn't the same as being at Phoenix Headquarters and hearing members of the Order recount first hand the atrocities they had witnessed.  
  
But even that safety net was starting to break apart. Even fewer students had returned to Hogwarts this year and the Ministry had assigned Aurors to patrol the grounds as well as inside the castle. In Defense Against the Dark Arts Moody made it all the more apparent just how real the war against Voldemort was. For the most part, he had done away with the theory part of their lessons and had them focus on honing their practical skills.  
  
She wouldn't have been Hermione Granger though, if she didn't read their Defense text from cover to cover. Moody might not think it important but she prided herself on knowing as much as she could about every subject. Besides, when they took their N.E.W.T.s in June, she very much doubted the Ministry examiners would scrap the written portion of the exam. This way she would be prepared for both unlike so many of her classmates.  
  
At the moment, however, her attention was on the scene unfolding in front of her and because of that had already reread the same paragraph twice. She felt ridiculous that it was bothering her this much and yet she couldn't help the jealousy she was feeling.  
  
She was watching Ron on the other side of the room play chess with Seamus. That, she had no problem with at all. In fact, she was relieved to see that after being back at school a week, he was starting to act more like his old self. What she did have a problem with was the way Parvati had been practically clinging to him since coming into the common room  all of which Ron was completely oblivious to. She was flirting with him in a very not so subtle way that had Hermione thinking up a number of different hexes she'd like to use on the girl to make sure she stayed away from Ron.  
  
"If you keep staring like that, people are going to think you're jealous," said Harry in a low voice from beside her.  
  
"I'm not," she lied unconvincingly and tore her gaze away from Ron and Parvati. "What about you? Are you jealous?" She said so low that Harry had to strain his ears just to hear her.  
  
He blushed a little. "Parvati's that way with everyone," he said in an attempt to make her feel better and failing miserably.  
  
It wasn't as if she could say anything anyways without starting the Hogwarts rumour mill flying and that was the last thing she wanted. Even if she did tell that cow Parvati to keep her hands off her boyfriend, that would mean Harry would get hurt because she couldn't very well go public by saying she was dating both of them.  
  
It was then she felt Harry's hand on her knee and she sent him a warning look. He was taking a big risk touching her like this, and in a common room full of people no less. All it would take was for one person to notice and they would have a real mess on their hands.  
  
Harry seemed to get the message and removed his hand from her leg, saying, "you've got nothing to worry about. Ron's mad about you."  
  
She knew that but that didn't make her feel any better about watching Parvati put her hand on Ron's arm. She had always been insecure about her looks and that had not abated since she had gotten involved with Ron and Harry. She still marveled at how Harry had gone from the exotic and beautiful Cho Chang to someone plain and bookish like her.  
  
"It would just make things easier if..." She trailed off, knowing there was no point in even discussing the subject.  
  
"If people knew about us?" Harry finished for her.  
  
As she nodded she could see the distinct frown forming on Harry's face.  
  
"You know why we can't," he said, his voice just above a whisper despite how noisy the common room was. "I thought you were okay with the way things are?"  
  
"How can I be happy about sneaking around? Or watching everything I say and do when I'm with you and Ron?" She said, feeling somewhat bitter.  
  
"We knew this wasn't going to be easy," Harry started, "but if you think going public with our relationship is going to solve anything, it's not. It'll just make things worse."  
  
"I know that," she said, the frustration evident in her tone. She didn't know how she could have ever thought their relationship would be simple enough to maintain at school as long as they were discreet about it. Harry had girls staring at him practically everywhere he went and it looked like Ron was finally attracting the attention of the opposite sex as well. Probably the main reason it bothered her was because no matter how much she knew they loved her, she couldn't help thinking that this was just a passing phase for them. That certain non-platonic feelings had developed between the three of them because of how close they had become after all these years and because of everything they had been through together. She couldn't shake the feeling that eventually both Ron and Harry would realize this wasn't what they wanted. She couldn't even talk to them about how she was feeling because they would think she was being silly.  
  
After seeing Parvati move her chair so close to Ron's she might as well just have been sitting on his lap, Hermione had had enough. "I've got some reading I need to finish up," she told Harry as she gathered up her books. "Goodnight, Harry."  
  
She moved so swiftly Harry didn't get a chance to say goodnight back to her.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
* * *  
  
Ron had been sitting at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall for no more than two minutes when Hermione stood up and announced she was going to the library.  
  
"We've got class in twenty minutes," Ron said incredulously as he shoved a forkful of bacon into his mouth.  
  
"Unlike some people, I actually care about doing well on my N.E.W.T.s," she snapped before walking away.  
  
"What's up her arse this morning?" Ron said to Harry once she was gone.  
  
"She's a bit jealous of Parvati, I think," responded Harry.  
  
Ron threw Harry a bewildered expression. "What are you on about?"  
  
Harry glanced down the table to make sure there wasn't anyone nearby that could overhear their conversation. Then he told Ron how much it had bothered Hermione to see Parvati flirting with him last night.  
  
"But I didn't do anything!" Ron exclaimed. Several people from nearby tables looked over at his outburst, so Ron lowered his voice when he spoke next. "She was the one who was all over me. It's not like I encouraged her or anything."  
  
"It didn't look like you did anything to discourage her either," Harry pointed out.  
  
"It sounds like Hermione's not the only one who's jealous," Ron remarked.  
  
"Piss off," Harry scowled.  
  
"What's your problem, Harry? Can't stand the fact that I'm finally getting some attention?"  
  
"You're an idiot, Ron" Harry said furious. "You know damn well I could care less about the attention I get. I'd love nothing more than to be left alone."  
  
"Just because people around here don't see me as The Boy Who Lived's loyal sidekick anymore, don't expect me to apologize for it," Ron shot back.  
  
"You just don't get it, do you?" Harry said, knowing they were getting closer and closer to causing a scene. Fortunately, if that did happen the Great Hall was nearly empty with everyone getting ready for their first class of the day. "The reason you're getting all this attention is because of the Daily Prophet's interpretation of what happened to you," he finished, speaking from experience.  
  
"Fuck you, Harry," Ron seethed, getting up from the table. "Do you think I want every goddamn person in this school to know how those sick fuck's tortured me?"  
  
Harry felt most of his anger subsiding after that last comment but it didn't matter. Ron was already walking away from him and out of the Great Hall.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
* * *  
  
For all her lectures about maintaining absolute secrecy where their relationship was concerned, Hermione was breaking every one of her self-imposed rules by sneaking into the boys dorm late one night.  
  
Although it wasn't as great a risk as it could have been since she had Harry's invisibility cloak on. He had given it to her so she could take it with her when she did her patrols at night. There may have been Aurors inside the castle but Hermione had insisted to McGonagall that in order to maintain as normal an atmosphere as possible, the Prefects as well as the Head Girl and Boy should be allowed to do their nightly patrols.  
  
As quietly as she could, she pushed open the door to the boys dorm. She prayed they were all asleep but even if they weren't all they would see is their door being open by a seemingly invisible force.  
  
Harry's bed was the closest so she made her way over to there first. She pulled open the shut hangings and could see he was fast asleep. For a moment, she considered not waking him up and just going back to her room. She knew about the nightmares that constantly plagued him. He never said anything to her but Ron had told her he quite often heard Harry crying out in his sleep when they were at Grimmauld Place. It was rare for Harry to get a full night's sleep uninterrupted, but while she was contemplating what to do, Harry woke up and to say he was surprised to see her would have been an understatement.  
  
"Hermione?" He whispered groggily.  
  
She was still partially covered by the cloak, so she removed it and sat on his bed. She made sure to pull the hangings shut.  
  
Harry fumbled for his wand on the nightstand and cast a silencing charm around his bed. "What are you doing here?" He kept his voice low even though no one could hear them.  
  
"I thought that would be obvious. Why else would I be sneaking into the boys dorm at night?"  
  
Harry's brain still wasn't fully awake, so he was positive he had misunderstood her. After all her talk about being careful not to get caught, here she was on his bed while his dorm mates were no more than a few feet away. "Er, isn't this a bit risky?"  
  
It was, but she felt guilty that she hadn't really made any time for him or Ron since school had started. She had done exactly what she said she wouldn't do  bury herself in her studies. She was just going to have to manage her time better, so she could balance her relationship with them and her schoolwork.  
  
"We can put a barrier around your bed so that no one can open the curtains," she said to him. "I just need to be gone before your roommates wake up. Do you want to go wake Ron or should I?" When Harry didn't answer her, she wondered if there was some truth to what she had overheard in her Arithmancy class. Normally, she didn't pay attention to gossip but these two seventh year Ravenclaws had been whispering about how Harry and Ron had gotten into a fight in the Great Hall that morning. They had thought it was going to turn physical but then Ron had stormed off.  
  
"Did you two have a fight?" She asked him.  
  
Harry gave a noncommittal shrug. "It was nothing."  
  
"Then maybe now would be a good time for the two of you to make up," she suggested.  
  
"If you wanted to be with Ron, you should have gotten into his bed, not mine."  
  
This was not at all how she had pictured the night going. Harry sounded angry and resentful and she didn't know why. "What's that supposed to mean?"  
  
Harry remained silent. There was nothing he could say that wouldn't have this escalate into a serious row between them. It wasn't hard to see he was the odd one out in their relationship. Ron and Hermione had fancied each other for ages that sometimes he wondered why they even bothered with him.  
  
"I think I should go," she said a moment later.  
  
"No, don't," he said and stopped her just before she was about to open the hangings.  
  
She might not have left right then but that didn't mean she was going to stay. "Harry, there's no point in me staying if you think I'd rather be with Ron then you. How many times are we going to have this conversation before you realize I love you both the same?" She sought out his hand and intertwined her fingers through his. "Harry, I love you," she said, tightly gripping his hand as if that would change anything. "I wish you could see that."  
  
"I do. I just  " He broke off. He had never been good at talking about his feelings, nor did he feeling very comfortable doing so. So he decided to do the next best thing and pull Hermione towards him for a deep, lingering kiss. When he ended it, he let his forehead rest against hers, saying, "you're not leaving, are you?"  
  
She shook her head. She wasn't going anywhere. They could talk things out another time. Right now she wanted to put to good use the time they had to be alone together in his bed. She shrugged off the dressing gown she was wearing, revealing a modest looking blue coloured nightgown.  
  
Harry threw back the covers and pulled her onto his lap. He lowered the straps on her nightgown and pushed the front of it down enough to free her breasts. Then he took one of them into his mouth and from the sounds Hermione was making had never been more grateful for the silencing charm around his bed.  
  
He turned his head and began suckling on her other breast, feeling Hermione weave her fingers through his hair. He slid his free hand up her thigh and underneath her nightgown, almost groaning when his hand came in contact with her soft curls.  
  
"You're not wearing any knickers," he breathed.  
  
"I didn't think I was going to need them," she returned with a grin. She adjusted herself on his lap, eliciting a groan from Harry as she could now feel his hardness digging into more noticeably than before. The only thing stopping Harry's cock from entering her then was his thin cotton pajama bottoms.  
  
Harry moved his hand until he found her center. Then he started rubbing his fingers over her folds, causing Hermione to buck against him. He could feel how aroused she was just from the lavishing treatment he had given her breasts. He plunged a finger into her cunt, and was already inserting a second finger inside her before she could get used to the first one pumping in and out of her.  
  
Hermione gasped and held onto Harry's shoulders. She was sure even with his shirt still on, her nails were digging into his flesh but he didn't seem to mind. When he added a third finger, she only lasted a few more moments before Harry's ministrations drove her to orgasm and she came all over his hand.  
  
She was still recovering from the intense pleasure Harry had given her, that it took her a few seconds to realize he had changed their positions so that they were now lying down on his bed with her on top of him.  
  
She wanted to rest a bit more but could feel Harry's cock straining against her thigh and knew the level of discomfort he was probably in. She pushed up his shirt and kissed her way down his abdomen, stopping just above the waistband of his pajamas.  
  
"Do you want me to keep going?" She said, even though she already knew the answer.  
  
The only answer Harry could give her was to fervently nod his head. A short time later he felt the cool night air on the lower part of his body as Hermione pulled his pajama bottoms down. It wasn't long after when he felt her mouth engulf his erect cock. Harry dared to look down and see her head bobbing up and down as she sucked his length.  
  
She used her fingernails to lightly graze his thighs while she moved her lips over his rock hard shaft. She couldn't make out any of the noises Harry was making but after spending most of the summer getting to know his and Ron's bodies and what they liked best, she was confident enough in her own skills to know she was doing this right.  
  
She flicked her tongue over the swollen purplish head before moving her mouth off of him completely.  
  
"Why did you stop?" He groaned, knowing he sounded like some randy teenage male and not caring.  
  
Hermione's answer was to position her pussy over his erection and mount Harry like they had done a few times during the summer. It hadn't taken her long to figure out that the boys enjoyed shagging just as much when she was on top  sometimes more. She supposed it was because it was consistent with her bossy and controlling personality. Not that she minded. She found sex much more pleasurable this way because she could control how deep she could take them.  
  
Harry's hands found their way to her waist as he thrust up into her. "God, Hermione," he groaned out as she wildly rode his cock. He and Ron long ago had agreed to cut back on their teasing her about school because she put the same kind of effort into sex and was just as brilliant at it as she was with everything else.  
  
Harry came first and it wasn't long after before Hermione's walls were spasming around his cock and she climaxed as well. When she was finished she collapsed on top of him with a tired moan. She could feel Harry running his hands through her hair before settling on her lower back.  
  
"Next time, we're doing it in my room," she said, her breathing slowly returning to normal. "I'm too tired to move."  
  
"It would have been a lot easier that way, considering you have your own room," Harry pointed out.  
  
"I'm sure you still enjoyed yourself," she said, turning her head to see the content look on his face. It was getting more and more rare to see Harry looking relaxed and carefree. She was starting to see signs of how the burden of war was beginning to take a toll on him  the nightmares and frequent searing pain from his scar among them.  
  
She didn't want to think about Harry dying but there was a good chance it could happen. It fit with his personality that he would sacrifice himself for the greater good, and since the future was anything but sure, she stayed there with him.


	6. Chapter Six

It was the sunlight creeping through the hangings that had Hermione bolt awake. The sun was out and she was still in Harry's bed! And judging from the amount of sunlight it was probably past the point where Harry's roommates would still be asleep. A quick look at the alarm clock confirmed that. It was after eight o'clock!  
  
She didn't care that Harry was still asleep. She threw back the covers in attempt to find her clothes.  
  
"What are you doing?" Harry mumbled, sounding none too happy to be woken up by Hermione throwing the covers off him.  
  
"How could you let me fall asleep?" She snapped at him as she found her nightgown bunched up at the foot of the bed.  
  
"I thought you would just wake up and go back to your room," he said, sitting up. He saw his pajama bottoms and pulled on them on because he was cold.  
  
"Well, that didn't happen and now, Dean, Neville, and Seamus are probably all awake," she vented. She knew she shouldn't be blaming Harry. This had been her idea after all. It would be bad enough for a girl to get caught in the boys' dormitory but that would be nothing compared to how bad it would look for the Head Girl to get caught in her boyfriend's bed.  
  
"Where's the invisibility cloak, Harry?" She said, sounding panicked. She couldn't find her dressing gown either. She really wanted to know what had convinced her last night that nothing could go wrong by climbing into bed with Harry.  
  
"I don't know."  
  
"You're not even looking."  
  
"You put it somewhere last night. I didn't see where," said Harry, his temper starting to show. Ron might be able to handle waking up and starting off his day with an argument with Hermione, but Harry couldn't. "I'm sorry that you fell asleep but this isn't my fault."  
  
She stopped searching and sighed. "I know. This is my fault. I should have thought this through more.  
  
"It's probably underneath the bed," Harry said, now that they had both calmed down a bit. "I'll just open the hangings and get it. It's not like we have a choice," he added, seeing her expression.  
  
Hermione reluctantly agreed and used her wand to lift the barrier around the bed as well as the silencing charm.  
  
Harry opened the dark red hangings just enough to poke his head out so Hermione could stay hidden from sight. Sure enough, there was his dad's cloak with Hermione's dressing gown on top of it. Harry picked them both up and nearly had a heart attack when he saw Ron sitting a few feet away on his bed watching him.  
  
"Don't bother hiding her. Everyone else has already gone down for breakfast." Ron spoke in a dead calm voice but there was fury burning in his cobalt eyes.  
  
"Ron, I can explain about last night," Harry started as Hermione pushed back the curtains enough to come into view.  
  
"Don't bother," said Ron, getting to his feet and grabbing his school bag off the floor. "You're silencing charm wasn't that great, so I figured it out for myself."  
  
"This isn't what it looks like, Ron," said Hermione, not wanting him to leave until they sorted this out.  
  
That was Ron completely lost it. "I'm not stupid, Hermione. You snuck in here last night and while you and Harry were having a good fuck I was lying two feet away in my own bed. You tell me what I'm supposed to make of the fact that you two didn't bother to include me."  
  
"Ron, it's my fault, okay? Hermione wanted to get you but I thought it would be awkward because you and me had a fight."  
  
"Is that your bullshit excuse for wanting to be alone with her?" Ron fumed.  
  
"This is ridiculous," exclaimed Hermione. She fastened her dressing gown shut and stood up. "I'm not going to keep doing this with the both of you." She jabbed an angry finger at each of them in turn, saying, "honestly, if you two can't accept the fact that I want to be with both of you and that nobody is sneaking around to be with anybody, I think we should call it quits. I'm not going to spend the rest of the year arguing and having to defend myself if I happen to spend some time alone with one of you. Do you see me making a big fuss when the two of you are alone together?" Without waiting for their answer, she grabbed the invisibility cloak out of Harry's hands and threw it over herself in case she ran into anyone on the stairs.  
  
The only way Harry and Ron knew she was gone was because they could hear her climbing the winding staircase.  
  
Ron spoke first after Hermione had left. "You might want to come up with a good story to tell Dean and Seamus since they saw Hermione's dressing gown on your dad's cloak." He shouldered his school bag and left the dorm just as angry as Hermione had.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
* * *  
  
Ron didn't talk to Harry or Hermione during any of the classes they had together that morning. Ron even went so far as to not sit anywhere near them. Harry wasn't having much better luck because even though Hermione sat with him, she only spoke to him when necessary.  
  
By mid morning Harry was completely frustrated. He left for Care of Magical Creatures on his own, since Hermione had been unable to fit it into her course load with everything else she was taking.  
  
Hagrid's class was usually his favourite. Hagrid might not have been the best professor but he tried hard to keep things interesting, which was more than Harry could say for some of his other professors. Even better was that they had Hagrid's class with Hufflepuff this year, instead of with the Slytherins. That was one less class Harry had to put up with Malfoy's arrogance in.  
  
"So who was she, Harry?" Dean said, coming up to him. "Come on you can tell us," he added, referring to himself and Seamus. Neville was standing with Ron close to Hagrid, who was speaking loudly about a new breed of creatures he was trying to create.  
  
"I already told you there wasn't anyone in my bed last night except for me," said Harry, annoyed because he had been dealing with their questions all morning. That was probably one of the reasons why Hermione didn't seem too keen to talk to him. But he didn't know how she could blame any of this on him when she was the one who had snuck into the boys' dorm.  
  
"So that dressing gown was yours then?" Seamus snickered.  
  
"I'm not telling you anything so why don't the two of you sod off?" Harry snapped and walked as far away from them as he could. When he looked over at his fellow Gryffindors he could see them talking amongst themselves, no doubt eagerly discussing the possible girls he could have brought to bed with him.  
  
He really wished Dean and Seamus would let it go. All their talk was just serving to make Ron angrier and Harry wondered if he would end up telling them it was Hermione if he got angry enough.  
  
When Care of Magical Creatures ended and they were walking back to the castle for lunch, Harry decided he had nothing to lose by approaching Ron. He was walking by himself so Harry wouldn't have to worry about anyone overhearing them.  
  
"You can't possibly think that Hermione and me just want to be with each other," Harry said to him. He found it odd that he was trying to comfort Ron when he was the one was worried it was him preventing Ron and Hermione from being together.  
  
"I don't think you'd be seeing things the same way if you were in my shoes," said Ron.  
  
He wasn't shouting so Harry figured that to be an improvement. "You want to know why she's not speaking to me?" He said trying a different route. "Because I said the same things that you did last night. We got into a fight and she almost left."  
  
Ron stopped walking and faced him. "So you think we want to be together without you?"  
  
"Yeah, sometimes I think that," Harry answered.  
  
Ron shook his head. "Blimey, we're a couple of right idiots. I don't know how she puts up with us."  
  
"Lots of patience, I guess," Harry said and they both laughed. It felt good to clear the air between them.  
  
"You heading to the Great Hall now?" Ron asked him.  
  
"Yeah," Harry said with a nod. "If Hermione's there she'll be glad to see we're acting like best mates again."  
  
"I reckon Hermione might be more impressed if we made up properly," said Ron, a mischievous glint in his eyes.  
  
"Here?" Harry said, a bit shocked. There wasn't anyone around them but there weren't any real places to keep them hidden from sight. He didn't fancy doing it in the forbidden forest either.  
  
"No, up in the dorm."  
  
"Hermione and I almost got caught in our dorm, remember?" Harry was quick to point out.  
  
"Everyone's going to be at lunch. Besides, it's not like Dean or Seamus are going to suspect anything, since they think you had a bird in your bed last night," said Ron with a lopsided grin.  
  
That was all the convincing Harry needed  not that he needed much to begin with. Hopefully no one would find it odd they were both absent from the Great Hall.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
* * *  
  
The dorm was empty when they got there, but Harry and Ron weren't about to take any chances. They thoroughly checked boys loo and shower to make sure they really were alone.  
  
Since they shared the room, they couldn't very well lock the door but Harry remembered the barrier charm Hermione had cast around his bed last night. He just hoped it worked better than his silencing charm had.  
  
"We'll have to stop by the kitchens on the way to class," Ron said, already hearing his stomach grumbling as he yanked his loosened tie over his head. He was hungry but already knew this would be more than worth skipping lunch.  
  
"Just make sure the clothes stay on the bed," Harry said to him, not wanting a repeat of that morning.  
  
Ron's response to that was to yank Harry's oxford shirt out from his trousers and snog him. Harry's own hands fumbled to undo the buttons on Ron's shirt while Ron was already working his trousers undone.  
  
Harry pushed Ron onto his back and straddled him. He could see the look of anticipation on Ron's face as hand darted below the waistband of his boxers and grasped his hard cock.  
  
From that moment on, Ron wasn't aware of anything except for the hand that was skillfully stroking his shaft. He thrust himself hard into Harry's hand, wishing he didn't still have his trousers on because they were restricting his movement.  
  
As if reading his thoughts, Harry momentarily released Ron's cock so he could remove his underwear and trousers. This allowed Ron to buck his hips towards the hand that was pleasuring him.  
  
He squeezed his eyes shut and groaned loudly when he felt something hot and wet on his cock as Harry was now using his mouth in place of his hand.  
  
"Fuck  Harry  god," he groaned incoherently.  
  
This was still fairly new to the both of them. While they had been eager to explore Hermione's body they had only just gotten comfortable with each other shortly before Ron had been captured. It still felt slightly awkward doing these kinds of things to each other but it wasn't as if they were letting some random bloke do this to them. They had been best mates since their first year at school. It wasn't as if they had just woke up one day and started fancying each other. It had been more of a gradual thing, and neither probably would have acted on it if not for Hermione.  
  
Ron, who had been clutching the covers on his bed so hard his knuckles had long since turned white, moved them so they were fisted through Harry's messy hair. Ron was dimly aware that he was probably pulling his hair but he was too lost in the sensation of what Harry was doing to him to give it more than a fleeting thought.  
  
But now that he was nearing the point of climaxing, Harry had purposely slowed down his movements, so that he was sliding his lips over his length at an almost torturous pace.  
  
"Shit, Harry, this isn't funny," Ron growled. "Get on with it."  
  
Harry would have chuckled if he didn't have Ron's cock in his mouth. But just to drive Ron even further into frustration, he let most of Ron's cock slide out of his mouth so he was just licking and teasing the head.  
  
"If you think I'm going to do anything to you after, you can forget it," Ron said, sounding like he was in pain. "You're such a fucking prat."  
  
Instead of taking pity on Ron, Harry took his mouth of his cock completely.  
  
Ron lifted his head off the pillow and glared openly at Harry. "What did you do that for?"  
  
"It sounded like you didn't enjoy what I was doing so I thought I should stop," Harry said innocently but the smirk on his face spoke volumes. He purposely kept his hands close to Ron's cock but wouldn't touch it.  
  
Harry had obviously grown a lot bolder since the last time they had done this. Ron couldn't remember him ever being a teasing, smug wanker when they were together.  
  
"Just finish me off and I'll return the favour," Ron said, annoyed at how Harry practically had him begging for him to suck his cock.  
  
"I thought you said you weren't going to do anything to me," Harry said, still smirking.  
  
After this, there was no way Ron was going to let Harry off without a little payback. It would serve him right. "Just suck me, Harry," he said and was actually surprised when Harry did just that. It wasn't the agonizing pace from before either. Harry hungrily sucked his cock while running his tongue along the underside.  
  
Harry was once again bringing him to the brink of orgasm. Ron already knew he wasn't going to last much longer, but even then wasn't able to give Harry more than a split second warning that he was cumming. He moved Harry's head away and fisted his hand around his cock, jerking himself off to completion.  
  
When he was finished, he looked back at Harry, who was lying down now with an impressive erection of his own tenting from his trousers. Ron fell back onto the bed beside him, breathing heavily.  
  
Harry arched an eyebrow at him. "Feel better now?"  
  
"I reckon I'm feeling better than you are," said Ron, running his head over the bulge in Harry's trousers.  
  
Harry looked over at the nightstand and groaned. "Fuck. We've got class in ten minutes."  
  
"So? It's just Binns class. It's not like he's going to notice if we're missing. We can just borrow Hermione's notes later."  
  
"I don't think Hermione's going to willingly hand over her notes if she knew we skived off class to mess around."  
  
"We'll make it up to her," Ron insisted as Harry lifted up his hips so he could pull down his trousers and then his boxers.  
  
That decided it. They weren't going anywhere.


	7. Chapter Seven

It turned out to be a lot harder than they thought to make it up to Hermione. To say she was furious when she had learned why they had been absent from History of Magic was beyond an understatement. Ron had only made things worse by saying it was only History of Magic and probably would have fallen asleep anyways. Needless to say after that even Ron wasn't thick enough to ask if he could borrow her notes. They settled for using Neville's, which weren't nearly as detailed as Hermione's but decent enough for them to get what they had missed.  
  
"I still think we should give her some space. She'll talk to us when she's ready," Harry said to him.  
  
Ron snorted. "The way she's been giving us the cold shoulder that's not likely to happen anytime soon."  
  
Hermione had left dinner early to go to the library. She hadn't even told the boys that much. They had overheard her telling Ginny where she was going.  
  
When Harry and Ron had finished dinner, they had decided to head up to the library. Now Harry was having second thoughts about it. Not just about going to talk to Hermione in hopes she would forgive them, but about the back up plan he and Ron had come up with if that didn't work.  
  
"You don't want to go through with it, do you?" Ron said, as if reading his thoughts.  
  
"The library is a really public place," Harry said as they climbed the final staircase that would lead them directly to the library.  
  
"It's going to be empty in there," Ron assured him. "Nobody except Hermione goes straight to the library after a meal. You didn't seem to have a problem back when we were on the train," Ron added giving him a look.  
  
"That was different. We were in a compartment and had a locking charm on the door."  
  
"Let's not forget Hermione sneaking into our dorm and shagging you  "  
  
"All right, I get it," said Harry, cutting him off.  
  
"Maybe it's just all those musty books that turn you off. I bet the library has the opposite effect on Hermione," Ron finished with a grin.  
  
The library was indeed empty save for a handful of students, most of them at tables pouring over books. Hermione wasn't among them, so they started looking through the seemingly endless aisles of bookshelves for her. It took almost ten minutes of searching before they found her seated on the floor with one book open on her lap and half a dozen more stacked beside her.  
  
"We've been all over this ruddy library looking for you," said Ron as he walked towards her with Harry at his side.  
  
"If you had been paying attention in class," she started coolly, "you would have known this is where Professor Flitwick told us we would find the books to help us write our essays."  
  
She hadn't got up and walked away, so that was something, but Harry knew they still had a long way to go in terms of making up.  
  
"Why are you still cross with us?" Ron said to her. "Yes, we skived off class and it was a terrible thing to do," he said with mock seriousness, "but why are you acting like it's the end of the world?"  
  
Hermione closed the book she was leafing through and put it on top of the others. Then she got to her feet saying, "I know you two think I'm being silly by worrying about N.E.W.T.s and what sort of career I'm going to have when I graduate, but these things are important to me. And you two are acting like you couldn't care less about the future."  
  
Harry wanted to add he wasn't sure if he was going to have a future but that wasn't something he wanted to get into right then.  
  
"Hey, we want to graduate," said Ron. "But we can't help it if we don't take school and everything else as seriously as you. We're not you and if you haven't figured that out by now you're not as brilliant as we thought you were."  
  
Hermione's eyes flashed briefly but to Ron's surprise she didn't come back with an angry or clever retort. Instead she said, "if you two want help finding books for your essay, I'll give you a hand. But don't expect me to write it for you," she added, looking directly at Ron as she said that last part.  
  
Rather than take offense, Ron said, "actually, there's something else Harry and me were hoping you'd help us with."  
  
Hermione didn't even have to ask what he was talking about. "If you think I'm going to do anything with either of you in here, you can forget it," she said in all business-like tone.  
  
"Christ, you sound like Harry," Ron muttered.  
  
"I didn't say I wouldn't," Harry spoke up. "I just said I felt kind of awkward doing that in here."  
  
"It's empty in here," Ron said, as if that would somehow get her to change her mind. "We miss you, Hermione."  
  
"Yes, I'm sure you both have been terribly lonely," she remarked dryly. She wasn't daft to assume that Ron and Harry were only together when they were with her. Their missing History of Magic the other day was evidence enough of that. She wasn't against it by any means because she knew they were still a little uncomfortable around each other even though they never said anything to her. But it was hard not to feel a little jealous that they were able to carry on and be together without her.  
  
"Fine, you can just watch us," said Ron. He was betting on her not being able to turn down that offer.  
  
Hermione thought he was bluffing but when she saw him grab Harry's arm and drag him deeper within the library, she realized they were both mad enough to go through with it. And she was no better for following them.  
  
"Don't look so smug," Hermione said to them when they stopped down an aisle so crowded with books on the floor and overflowing from the shelves that anyone who happened to walk by wouldn't see them unless they actually ventured down the aisle. "I never said I was going to stay and watch you two get caught by a student or worse Madam Pince."  
  
"I would have thought as Head Girl you would have tried harder to discourage such activities in the library," Harry said smirking.  
  
"I reckon we've been a bad influence on her," Ron added. "She didn't even threaten to take off house points."  
  
Forget house points, she should have reported them to Madam Pince but Hermione had never once considered doing either. She wouldn't admit it out loud  especially to Harry and Ron because they would never let her hear the end of it  but there was something a bit thrilling about the idea of being with them intimately in the library. She did have the occasional fantasy about it, and some of them had happened even before their relationship had changed. Back then she would have gladly taking a failing mark rather than admit wanting to be with both of them at the same time.  
  
"Let's give her something to watch," Harry said in a low husky voice. He placed his hands on either side of the bookshelf Ron was leaning against and snogged him.  
  
Ron had expected he would be the one who would have to initiate everything, but feeling Harry's growing erection digging into him, he knew that wasn't going to be the case anymore.  
  
Hermione had never really watched them before, mostly because she was caught up in the middle of it. All they were doing was snogging and she couldn't get over how sexy they looked together. Her eyes widened slightly when she saw their hands fumbling to undo each other's trousers.  
  
They may have told Hermione no one would catch them  mostly just so she would join them  but Harry and Ron weren't going to take more risks than was necessary. They didn't remove any of each other's clothes, which made it all the more torturous to stand there and grind their crotches into each other.  
  
Harry thought he would feel self conscious knowing Hermione was just a few feet away watching everything they were doing, but it only served to make him even more aroused when he looked back at her and saw the desire burning in her eyes.  
  
"You better get on with it," said Ron, "or I don't think I'm going to last."  
  
They had decided ahead of time that Harry would be the one to bugger him. They played a game of exploding snap to decide who would do it. Ron had wanted to play chess but Harry had protested he had an unfair advantage at that.  
  
Ron wondered if Harry was as nervous as he was, probably even more so because he would be the one actually doing the fucking.  
  
Hermione couldn't believe what they were actually going to do even when it was happening right in front of her eyes. Ron turned around so his back was to Harry, who pulled down his trousers and underwear just enough to expose his throbbing cock before doing the same to Ron.  
  
"Shit, Harry, do the charm," Ron said, his voice hoarse as he felt Harry's cock already nudging against his arse cheeks.  
  
"Oh, right," Harry said, having already forgotten about it even though he had been thinking about it only a few seconds ago. He momentarily pulled away from Ron to pick up his wand from inside his robes on the floor.  
  
Ron felt a slight tingling sensation where Harry had done the charm but that was it. "Are you sure you did it right?"  
  
"I have used it before," Harry responded.  
  
Ron wasn't entirely convinced but Hermione hadn't complained when Harry had performed the charm on her, so he supposed he had done it right. But then he felt Harry's hands spreading his arse cheeks so he could wedge his cock in between them and nothing else seemed to matter.  
  
Harry had almost forgotten Hermione was there until he felt her hand on his cock. He could see the arousal in her eyes as she guided his cock into Ron's arse.  
  
"Oh fuck," Ron gasped, both from the feeling of Harry's cock inside him for the first time and from knowing Hermione's hand was there helping Harry push into him. It hurt but the pain wasn't overwhelming by any means. It was actually more painful for Ron when he felt Harry stop moving. "God, Harry, keep going," he groaned.  
  
"You sure?" Harry said, sounding uncertain.  
  
"Yes," Ron gasped, biting his lip to keep from crying out. Now he was wondering why he had been so eager to do this in the library where he was going to have to stay as silent as possible.  
  
When Harry felt he was as far inside Ron as he could get, he started moving his cock in and out of him. He had already had a bit of practice with Hermione, so he knew what he was doing but it was still different. The most obvious was Ron had a cock he could wrap his hand around as he thrust into him.  
  
They were definitely never doing this in the open again. It was hard enough for Ron to keep himself quiet while Harry worked his cock into him, but when he felt Harry's hands reach around to tug and pump his own cock in time with his thrusts he thought he was going to go mad.  
  
Hermione gave Harry a deep kiss while running her fingertips over his shaft before getting an idea of her own. There was still enough space between Ron and the bookshelf that she could squeeze in to stand in front of him. She didn't have to wait long before Ron responded to her presence. He caressed her thigh underneath her skirt until his fingers reached their intended destination. He pushed her knickers to the side and started fingering her pussy. He suppressed the urge to groan at feeling how aroused she was just from watching him and Harry. She was leaking all over his hand and he had barely touched her.  
  
He had the overwhelming urge to stick his cock inside her while Harry drove into him from behind. He plunged into her cunt without warning, and though she tried hard not to make a sound, Hermione couldn't stop a moan from escaping her lips.  
  
The next few minutes were indescribable. As intense as it was for Hermione, she knew it must have been even more extreme for the boys. As far as she had known they hadn't yet progressed to actually shagging. But she had a feeling this was their first time doing it. Then Ron's hands were underneath her shirt, kneading her breasts through her bra and she couldn't think anymore. Not that she was thinking much to begin with.  
  
Ron rocked his hips against Hermione as he continued to thrust into her, but his movements were becoming more frantic as Harry had increased the pace at which he was pounding into him. In his lust filled haze, Ron wondered if it was like this for Hermione when they were both inside her at the same time. Then he wondered why he and Harry hadn't down this before now. Sure there was some discomfort and he wasn't sure if he would be able to walk in a few hours time but there was no way he was going to tell Harry to stop when he was this close to release.  
  
Harry didn't know how he had the presence of mind to lean forward over Ron's shoulder and cover Hermione's mouth with his to keep the rest of the library from hearing the orgasm she was having. While Hermione's body was shuddering under the force of her orgasm, Harry could feel his own impending climax overtake him. He thought about pulling out of Ron before that happened but he wasn't fast enough and emptied his semen deep into Ron's rectum. Ron didn't seem to mind though, so he kept pumping his load into him. He tore his mouth away from Hermione's. It was too hard to maintain the kiss as he felt Ron's muscles contract around his cock and knew he was cumming as well.  
  
When Harry did pull out he didn't feel too steady on his feet and quickly tucked himself back into his trousers before sinking to the floor. Ron sank to the floor beside him a few moments later, bringing Hermione down with him.  
  
"Bloody hell," Ron panted, not knowing what else to say.  
  
"We can't stay like this," Hermione said and reluctantly moved away from the boys.  
  
"I bet you'll never look at the library the same way again," said Ron as he watched her stand up and smooth down her skirt.  
  
"Or maybe you've secretly wanted this all along," Harry remarked.  
  
Hermione spent more time fixing her school uniform then was necessary so they wouldn't see her blushing.  
  
"Um, you're not going back to working on your essay now, are you?" Ron said, sounding hopeful as he and Harry got to their feet.  
  
"I could do that, or we could go to the Room of Requirement," she said seductively. "I still have a few hours before rounds."  
  
"Blowing off homework?" Ron said, scandalized. "What's next? Skiving off classes?"  
  
Hermione crossed her arms over her chest. "Honestly, if you're going to make a big deal out of it, I think I'll just stay here."  
  
Ron, who knew he was probably just going to dig an even deeper hole for himself with whatever he said next, went ahead and snogged her. It had the desired effect because when he pulled away Hermione seemed to have forgotten or was at least willing to let go of what had been the beginnings of an argument.  
  
"I think Harry feels left out," she said afterwards, looking over at Harry.  
  
"I do," said Harry, pretending to look hurt. "Which is why I expect the both of you to make it up to me."  
  
"That seems only fair," Hermione said coyly.  
  
"We're leaving now," Ron said, growing impatient when he thought about how they could have been halfway to the Room of Requirement by now.  
  
Unfortunately for the boys, Hermione made them wait almost another five minutes because she insisted on putting the books away that she had stacked on the floor.  
  
When they were finally on their way out of the library it was then Harry noticed how badly rumpled their clothes were. It didn't look that bad for him and Ron, since their school uniform normally resembled that appearance but Hermione rarely ever had her shirt creased and not tucked in. As long as they didn't run into anyone or let Hermione see a mirror they would probably be all right.  
  
"Did I tell you the twins might be buying Zonko's?" Ron said to him.  
  
That was more then enough to drag Harry away from his thoughts about their disheveled appearances. "What about their own joke shop?"  
  
"They'll still run that themselves. They would never give that up. They just think it would be a good investment. With all the shops already closed down in Hogsmeade, the owner is thinking of retiring. If Fred and George did buy it they'd have to hire someone to run the place."  
  
"They would probably get it for more than a reasonable price," said Hermione. "The war has scared a lot of people out of business. And with the way business is booming at their joke shop, I wouldn't be surprised if they could do the same thing there," she said, paying the twins a rare compliment.  
  
The trio reached the bottom of the staircase then and crossed paths with Zacharias Smith.  
  
Ever since the DA in fifth year, Harry couldn't stand Smith any more than he could stand Draco Malfoy. He was an irritating and arrogant git, two qualities not usually associated with a Hufflepuff.  
  
"I hear McGonagall wants you to start Quidditch tryouts early this year," Smith said to Harry. He was made Captain of the Hufflepuff team last year.  
  
"Maybe Hufflepuff should consider doing the same thing," Ron responded for Harry.  
  
It was meant as an insult and Smith took it that way. "At least our tryouts are fair. People don't get on the team just because they happen to be best mates with the captain."  
  
"Ron, don't," Hermione pleaded, knowing where this was leading.  
  
"I think you're forgetting that it's Gryffindor who's won the Quidditch Cup for the last two years," Harry said, growing angry like Ron.  
  
"You're right, my mistake. You pick your players out of pity," said Smith, locking his eyes on Ron.  
  
"Pity?" Ron all but shouted and yanked his arm free from Hermione's grasp.  
  
"Come on, Weasley, it was in the Prophet what happened to you. I don't think you could handle another emotional blow like being picked over for Keeper."  
  
"You son of a bitch," Ron snarled and took a threatening step towards him.  
  
"Weasley!" A gruff voice boomed.  
  
Hermione had never been so relieved to see their Defense Against the Dark Arts professor limping towards them. She knew there would have been nothing she could have done to stop Ron from hitting Zacharias, and it didn't look like Harry was going to do anything to stop him.  
  
"Weasley, you come with me," Moody ordered. While he was still glaring at Ron, his glass eye swiveled over to Zacharias Smith. "I'll see you in my office tomorrow night at eight for detention. Let's go, boy," he barked at Ron.  
  
Still fuming, Ron followed the Auror without looking back at Harry or Hermione.


	8. Chapter Eight

After being at the mercy of Death Eaters for hours on end, Ron was not at all intimidated by being alone with Mad-Eye Moody. The Auror had led him back to their Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom and had just stood there like he was waiting for Ron to explain the impending fistfight he had broken up.  
  
"So what's my detention?" Ron asked, wanting to get this over with.  
  
"I wouldn't call that behaviour worthy of a detention," Moody said to him. "I know that Hufflepuff Smith started it. It's almost a shame I noticed you lot when I did. Smith would be in the hospital wing right now if I hadn't."  
  
To Ron, it sounded like the Auror was almost disappointed Ron hadn't gotten the chance to pummel Zacharias Smith. "If I'm not in trouble then why am I here?"  
  
"Because you're a loose cannon, Weasley. You're impulsive and you've got a right nasty temper. All those things have landed you in a fair bit of trouble over the years."  
  
"I do my best to keep it under control," Ron said stiffly.  
  
"Yes, when Granger's at your side she can usually keep you in line but she won't always be there to keep you out of trouble," said Moody, pulling out the chair at his desk so he could sit down. "'Course no one can blame you after what you've been through. I've seen Aurors who were never the same after being a Death Eater prisoner. You're tough, Weasley, I'll give you that. But everyone has their breaking point."  
  
"No offense, Professor, but I think I would know if I was going to fall apart," said Ron, an edge creeping into his tone. If he wouldn't talk about his capture with Harry or Hermione, he sure as hell wasn't going to talk about it with the paranoid Auror.  
  
"I think you just have a little aggression you need to work out," Moody observed, standing up and limping over to a closed cupboard.  
  
Ron knew Moody kept a Boggart in there. He sometimes had them practice on it during class.  
  
Moody aimed his wand at the cupboard and the doors creaked open...  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
* * *  
  
Ron still had not returned to Gryffindor Tower when Hermione started her nightly rounds through the school. She was beginning to worry about just how much trouble he was in. She didn't feel like he had actually done anything wrong  Moody had intervened before that could happen. But it was common knowledge that Moody didn't let things slide and he punished all students as he saw fit. The Gryffindors weren't usually on the receiving end of that punishment though. It was typically the Slytherins that Moody handed out detentions and other various punishments to.  
  
Harry had given her the Marauder's map and Invisibility cloak whenever she did her rounds. Rather than argue that she was perfectly safe inside the castle with the dozens of Aurors stationed throughout, she tried to appreciate that he and Ron were worried about her safety and took the map and cloak without argument.  
  
She checked to make sure no one else was around before pulling out the Marauder's Map from inside her robes. She tapped her wand against it and whispered, "I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good."  
  
Suddenly it was a blank piece of parchment no longer. There were little moving dots everywhere. She searched until she found the two that were labeled Alastor Moody and Ron Weasley. They were in their Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom.  
  
She had to patrol that corridor anyways to see if there were any students out passed curfew, so she might as well do that one first. As Head Girl, she wanted to speak on Ron's behalf and let Moody know that he had done nothing wrong. Zacharias Smith had been the one goading him the entire time.  
  
The classroom door was open but she didn't go inside right away. She stayed out of sight but was still able to see inside. Ron was standing in front of an open cupboard with his wand drawn. She recognized it as the one Moody kept a Boggart inside. She stifled a gasp when the Boggart appeared and it took the form of Harry, who was similarly holding a wand. Ron backed away, the hand gripping his wand shaking uncontrollably. Then the Boggart changed and it was her. Her Boggart self advanced on Ron, who kept backing away.  
  
She heard Moody's voice shout Riddikulus and the Boggart rescinded into the cupboard, which locked shut.  
  
"I think you have other places in the school to patrol, Granger," Moody's voice sounded.  
  
She froze but there was no sense in running off or putting the invisibility cloak on since according to Harry he could see through it. She stepped into the classroom, trying not to look guilty at having been caught spying. It was hard to miss the horrified look on Ron's face when he saw her.  
  
"You're free to go, Weasley," Moody said, limping towards the door. "But try to keep that temper of yours in check."  
  
Then their professor was gone and she and Ron were alone in the classroom. At first, he refused to look in her direction and then he unleashed his temper at her.  
  
"You were spying on me?"  
  
"I was coming to plead your case to Moody, so he would know you didn't do anything wrong," she said to him.  
  
Ron was still furious. "Next time, stay out of it. I can take care of myself."  
  
He tried to leave but Hermione blocked his path. "Why did your Boggart turn into Harry and then into me?"  
  
"I'm not talking about this with you," he said, and when it became clear she wasn't going to move, he moved her himself. He grabbed her wrists and pushed her out of the way.  
  
This was a side of Ron she had never seen before. The fury and coldness in his eyes when he pushed her away was not something she had witnessed in any of their rows over the years. She knew there could only be one reason for it. "You're still angry that I spent the night with Harry alone?"  
  
"No, that's not it. You can go shag Harry all you want, I don't care," he said coldly.  
  
If that wasn't it there was still something else he was terribly angry at them for. "Ron, talk to me," she said, her voice almost pleading. She tried to touch him but he backed away from her. The way he was acting was eerily reminiscent of when he had first returned to Grimmauld Place after being captured.  
  
"Hermione, please let this go," he said, raking his hands through his hair.  
  
"How can I when I know that Harry and I must have done something to you for your Boggarts to take our form."  
  
"You didn't do anything," Ron said quietly.  
  
"Then why  "  
  
"Because they took a Polyjuice potion to look like you, all right? Those fucks used the Cruciatus on me while looking like you and Harry. They thought it would break me down and it did. I wanted them to kill me. If I had been able to talk I would have told them to use the killing curse on me and get it over with."  
  
Hermione just stood there, watching Ron look so close to falling apart and feeling like she was the cause of it. And she was  a Death Eater disguised as her had spent hours, maybe even days torturing him. No wonder he hadn't wanted her or Harry to touch him in the beginning.  
  
"Fuck, see this is why I didn't tell you," Ron said, reading her expression. "Hermione, you didn't do anything."  
  
"Does Harry know?" She said quietly.  
  
"Of course I didn't tell him. You know how he is. He already blames himself because they took me instead of him. He doesn't need anything else to feel guilty about."  
  
"Ron, you need to tell him."  
  
"I can't," he said, shaking his head. "I wasn't even going to tell you."  
  
"I don't think I can keep something like this from him."  
  
"If it's so important that he know, then you tell him yourself," Ron said sharply and walked out of the classroom.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
* * *  
  
Hermione didn't bother with the rest of her rounds. She couldn't bring herself to care or even think that they were important. She couldn't think about anything except what Ron had told her. How could he have kept this from her and Harry for months? How could he stand to be with either one of them? She felt sick inside even though she wasn't the one responsible for what had happened to Ron.  
  
She entered the common room and found Harry struggling to stay awake while he completed his Potions homework. There were a lot of people still awake so she couldn't talk to him here.  
  
Harry could tell something was wrong even before Hermione sat down beside him. Potions homework forgotten, he said, "what's wrong? Did something happen?" As the seconds ticked by and she still hadn't said a word, Harry grew even more worried.  
  
The portrait hole opened and Ron stepped into the common room. He cast a look over at the two of them sitting together before proceeding to march up the stairs that led to the dormitories.  
  
"You need to talk to him."  
  
"Why? Hermione, tell me what's going on," he demanded.  
  
"Not here. Let's go upstairs."  
  
Harry just assumed they were going to her room but she stopped outside the seventh year boys' dorm and walked in. Neville was the only other person in the room aside from Ron. He was sitting on his bed reading his Herbology text.  
  
"Neville, could you give us a minute?" Hermione said to him.  
  
"No, Neville, don't go anywhere," Ron said before Neville could say anything. "This is the boys dorm after all. She can't kick you out of your own room."  
  
Neville, not wanting to be caught in the middle of whatever was going on, smartly closed the book he was reading. "I'll be downstairs," he said quietly and hurried out of the room.  
  
Harry looked from Hermione to Ron, saying, "will somebody tell me what's going on?"  
  
"Hermione can tell you. I'm going to bed," said Ron, and threw back the covers on his bed.  
  
"Well?" Harry prompted her. He was growing impatient at whatever it was that they were keeping from him. It must have been bad though, because Hermione looked near tears.  
  
"When Ron was being held captive the Death Eaters used Polyjuice potion to look like us," she started slowly. "Then they used the Cruciatus Curse on him."  
  
Harry's reaction was much the same as Hermione's had been. "Wh  why didn't you tell us?" He said, struggling to get the words out.  
  
"Because I didn't need the two of you walking around like a couple of guilt ridden sods," Ron replied.  
  
"You should have said something," Hermione said to him. "God, Ron, you don't have to prove anything to us."  
  
"That's not what I was trying to do," Ron snapped. "Look, it was a bit hard being around you two in the beginning, okay? But I got over it, so you two should do the same."  
  
Not wanting to have to deal with Harry and Hermione anymore, Ron flung himself down on his bed and closed the curtains around it.  
  
When Hermione tried to pull them open she couldn't because he had cast a barrier charm around his bed.


	9. Chapter Nine

The first Hogsmeade trip of the school year was not at all what Hermione had imagined it would be. Hermione had thought she, Ron, and Harry would go into the wizarding village for a few hours and then go back to Hogwarts early so they could take advantage of having Gryffindor Tower to themselves. But none of that happened. Ron, who never missed a Hogsmeade trip, had said he wasn't feeling well and they should go without him.  
  
He had been perfectly healthy at breakfast but Hermione supposed she had been expecting too much. That after she and Harry had agreed to give Ron his space for a few days things would suddenly be all right between them again. His detention with Moody had affected him more then he would admit, and Hermione realized she probably hadn't helped matters by trying to corner him into talking about it.  
  
She just couldn't stop thinking about it  and if she couldn't, she knew it had to be a million times worse for Ron. She couldn't fathom what he had gone through and was probably still going through. She had tried talking to Harry but he wasn't much help. He thought they should just back off and leave Ron alone. It wasn't in Hermione's nature to just leave things be, but Harry had warned her she would just make the situation worse by pushing Ron.  
  
"We didn't have to go into Zonko's if you didn't want to," Harry was saying to her then.  
  
They were sitting in a crowded Three Broomsticks, having been fortunate to get a table to themselves away from some of their more noisy classmates.  
  
"It was fine," she responded. "I didn't mind going there."  
  
Harry took a long drink from his butterbeer before saying, "is there anywhere else you want to go?"  
  
"Not really," she answered.  
  
"Maybe we should just go back then," Harry said shortly.  
  
She picked up on the anger in his tone. "Harry, we don't have to."  
  
"Right, because you're having such a wonderful time," he remarked sarcastically.  
  
"We should talk about what's going on," she said, broaching what had become a forbidden subject between them.  
  
"Why? It's not going to change anything. Can you blame Ron for not wanting to be around us?" Harry grabbed his cloak off the seat beside him and threw it on. He didn't even bother saying goodbye to Hermione. He just walked out of there. Predictably, she followed him.  
  
"Harry, stop," she said, grabbing his arm. "I'm not going to chase you all over Hogsmeade."  
  
Harry sighed and ran a hand through his tousled hair. "I know you think talking about it is somehow going to make things better but it won't."  
  
"You need to stop feeling guilty," she said gently.  
  
"You're telling me you don't?"  
  
"My guilt is different. I don't blame myself for those Death Eaters taking Ron."  
  
"They took him because they couldn't get me, all right?" He was shouting and people nearby had turned to stare, but Harry neither noticed nor cared. However, he was aware of the fact that if he stayed there he was probably going to say several things he would regret. "I'm going back to Hogwarts," he mumbled.  
  
As he started back towards the school, it didn't take him long to figure out that Hermione wasn't following him this time.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
* * *  
  
"How was Hogsmeade?" Ron asked them at dinner that night.  
  
"Fine," Harry said, tucking into his shepherd's pie.  
  
Hermione just murmured her agreement.  
  
"Did you two have a row or something?" Ron asked. When neither of them offered up an answer, he said, almost knowingly, "was it about me?" Now he had their attention. He had his suspicions that something was off between them since they sat down in the Great Hall.  
  
"We had a bit of an argument about our situation," Hermione said, careful to keep her voice low.  
  
"Why? I told you I was fine with the way things are. It's you two that have the problem, since you seem to think what happened to me was your fault."  
  
"No, Ron, you're not fine," Hermione persisted. "This is the most you've spoken to us in days."  
  
"That's because I'm sick of those godforsaken pitying looks you've been giving me. Christ, Hermione, we went through all this in the summer. Let's not go back to that."  
  
"Maybe we should take a break," Harry said quietly.  
  
Ron fixed him with a cold glare. "So you can have Hermione all to yourself?"  
  
"Oh god, not this again," Hermione muttered, shaking her head.  
  
Ron hadn't meant it like that. He was just angry that Harry would even think, let alone suggest, they should call it quits for a while. He didn't want that. Sure, in the beginning he had considered it but he loved them too much to actually go through with what he had been saying.  
  
"When have you two ever known me to hold back saying what's on my mind?" Ron said, looking at them both. "If I wanted to end things, I would have said so. I admit, it was hard in the beginning but I knew all along you both would never to anything like that. It was just one way for those Death Eaters to fuck with my mind."  
  
"Then what do you want?" Harry asked him. It would be a long time  maybe never, before he stopped feeling guilty about Ron's abduction. But Voldemort had already taken too much from him, that if Ron was okay with continuing their relationship, he wasn't going to say no.  
  
Voice so low, Harry and Hermione could barely hear him, he said, "I want us to go to an empty classroom, so I can show you just how fine I am." Feeling like he needed to prove what he was saying, he grabbed Hermione's hand and placed it on his crotch. There was no way he could do it discreetly. He just had to pray everyone else around them was too distracted to notice.  
  
"Ron," she said softly and because she was so shocked he had done that, didn't move her hand right away. She could feel his cock springing to life under her hand and was already thinking ahead to how he was going to have a difficult time hiding that when they walked out of there.  
  
Harry was sitting across from them and though he couldn't see what Ron had done, Hermione's reaction told him everything he needed to know. "Are we leaving now?"  
  
Ron was relieved to see he had finally got through to the both of them. Once he was satisfied he had concealed his hard on with his robes, he stood up with Harry and Hermione to leave.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
* * *  
  
Hermione had conjured a blanket so they wouldn't have to lie on the cold, hard floor of the classroom. Then, she, Harry, and Ron had become a blur of movement as they quickly removed each other's clothing. After some heavy snogging and groping, Hermione decided to move things along.  
  
She scooted down the blanket until Ron's dick was inches away from her face. She gave it a long lick before taking him into her mouth. Ron grunted incoherently before Harry's mouth came crashing down on his. He fisted one hand through Hermione's hair, getting her to take his cock deeper, and ran his other hand through Harry's hair, making it messier than usual.  
  
Harry was the one to break the kiss. But he only did it so he could move further down the blanket and position his face underneath Hermione's waiting pussy. She was on her knees so he had an easy enough time spreading her legs enough so he could dart his tongue out against her cunt.  
  
"Harry!" Hermione cried out both in surprise and in pleasure. She momentarily let Ron's throbbing cock slide out of her mouth. Once she regained her composure  or as much as she could considering the position she was in  she resumed the blowjob she had started.  
  
It wasn't rare for Hermione to be unable to string a coherent thought together when she was intimate with the boys, but any kind of activity involving her brain was impossible at the moment. All she could concentrate on was the feel of Harry's mouth and tongue eagerly exploring her cunt, while somehow still managing to pleasure Ron's cock as he continue to thrust himself further into her mouth.  
  
Ron could feel against his cock as well as hear the noises she was making from Harry eating out. It was beyond arousing and as much he wanted this to last, he could already feel himself nearing release.  
  
Once Hermione grazed her teeth over the tip of his cock he came with groan. It was hard to swallow with Harry bringing her closer to her own impending orgasm, but Hermione managed to swallow most of Ron's load and then used her tongue to lick his cock clean.  
  
Harry kept his face buried in her pussy, using his tongue against her clit until she reached her peak and was cumming wildly over his face. When that happened, he was able to maneuver Hermione onto her back and lap up her juices as her hips bucked towards his face.  
  
When Hermione's body stopped shuddering, Harry kissed his way up her stomach and breasts before lying down beside her.  
  
"Did we wear you out already?" Ron said to her.  
  
"No, I just need a short rest," she answered.  
  
"That's good to hear because you still have to take care of something," said Harry.  
  
Being sandwiched between them, it was impossible for Hermione not to feel Harry's erection digging into her backside. She could already feel Ron starting to harden against her leg and knew the boys wouldn't let her lie there for long  she was right.  
  
Ron pulled her to her feet and led her over to one of the nearby desks. Hermione thought he was going to pick her up and place her on the desk, but he surprised her by hoping up onto the desk himself. Then he pulled her onto his lap with her back to him.  
  
"What exactly do you have in mind?" She directed her question at the both of them even though she would have bet her N.E.W.T scores she knew exactly what they were planning.  
  
Harry was in front of her, his stiff cock standing out proudly from his dark pubic hair. Hermione could feel herself getting wet because she knew in a few short seconds Harry would penetrate her with it.  
  
Harry was so hard he didn't know how he held back from plunging his cock with full force into Hermione's pussy. He sank into her with one swift stroke and started thrusting into her, sending her grinding into Ron's lap.  
  
Ron buried his face in Hermione's thick curls. Her arse was rubbing against his dick so much he wished he had thought to do the lubrication spell before hand. There was no way he was going to lift her off her lap so he could fumble around and find his wand. So he did the next best thing when Hermione bounced off his lap again from Harry driving his cock deep into her. He shifted underneath her so the next time she ground herself against his crotch, his cock ended up wedged between her arse cheeks.  
  
"Ron," she moaned his name.  
  
He could tell she was aroused but also a bit wary of taking it up the arse without the charm.  
  
"I'll go slow," he said, almost pleadingly.  
  
"Okay," she said in a small voice.  
  
Ron's hands found their way to her waist and as he promised, slowly worked his cock deeper into her arse.  
  
By this point, Harry could not longer hold himself from back from slamming into Hermione as deep as he could. He could tell by the way her head was thrown back and the sounds that were emanating from her mouth that she wasn't in any pain  at least not from what he was doing.  
  
Hermione felt some discomfort from Ron penetrating her from behind, but if she focused on how incredible it felt to have both boys moving their cocks in and out of her at the same time, it made what pain there was all the more bearable. Once Ron reached around to grope her breasts from behind she forgot about her own discomfort.  
  
Harry freed one of Hermione's breasts from Ron's grasp. When his mouth clamped over her breast, Hermione responded by digging her fingers into his shoulders.  
  
Harry wasn't sure how much longer he could keep going at his current pace. He could feel his balls tightening with every thrust. Harry was just grateful he and Ron now lasted much longer than when they had first started shagging.  
  
Ron couldn't take anymore of Hermione bouncing up and down on his cock. He barely had to do any work to begin with since the force behind Harry's thrusts propelled his cock deep into her arse. He was cumming so hard sperm was leaking out from Hermione's arse onto his crotch and the desk. He wanted to bring his lovers off at the same time so he moved his hand over where Harry and Hermione were joined. He stroked Harry's cock, while working his fingers through Hermione's soaked pussy whenever Harry slid into her. It quickly became too much for the two of them and they came.  
  
Ron nuzzled the back of Hermione's neck when she finally went still on his lap. His cock was still buried deep inside her and if he had it his way he would never move from this position.  
  
"I think I need to be lying down," she said tiredly.  
  
"You and me both," said Harry, still sounding out of breath.  
  
He helped Hermione off of Ron's lap and she clung to him as he guided her back to the blanket. The three of them laid back down close together.  
  
"We should leave dinner early more often," Ron remarked.  
  
"You would miss dessert," she said, smiling at him.  
  
"This was more than worth missing a whole day's worth of meals."  
  
Harry chuckled. "I'm glad we were that good."  
  
"The word 'brilliant' does come to mind," said Ron. "I hope the two of you realize now this is what I want." He didn't want to bring it up now, especially not after the amazing shag they'd just had, but he couldn't deal with the two of them blaming themselves any longer.  
  
"Ron, I told you that you didn't have to prove anything to us," Hermione said, lightly caressing his cheek.  
  
"I think I did, since you couldn't figure it out for yourself," he responded.  
  
"Let's not ruin this," said Harry. "Hermione and I can't help the way we feel but we're not going to let it ruin what the three of us have."  
  
"It's about bloody time you came to your senses," Ron noted, trying to lift the serious air that settled between the three of them.  
  
"But if you ever feel like you need  "  
  
"Believe me, you'll be the first to know," Ron said, gently cutting her off.  
  
"So where does that leave us?" Said Harry.  
  
"It leaves us to make good use of this classroom while we've got the chance," said Ron, grinning wickedly.  
  
And they did just that.  
  
  
  
The End


End file.
